In the 2021 version of an annual survey, Bank of America expects roughly 1.5 times more new models to be launched in the coming years than in the previous period. We’re getting busy here at Techzle.
The study, cited by Automotive News, predicts a total of 240 new models to be launched between 2022 and 2025. That amounts to an average of 60 pieces per year, much more than in the past period. The last 20 years the average has been 40 per year, with no more news being launched in the most recent years than in the years that are further behind us.
Source: Automotive News/Bank of America
Bank of America also looked at the so-called ‘replacement rate’, or the extent to which the product portfolio is renewed. In the period 2002-2021, an average of 16 percent of the supply was renewed annually, but an average of no less than 21 percent is expected for the next four years.
Bank of America does note that the difference between the manufacturer that innovates the least and the manufacturer that innovates the most has tripled in recent years. Honda is at the top of the list and will renew no less than 112 percent of its range in the coming years, according to the study, or everything plus an extension. Toyota follows with 102 percent, the average over the entire period is 83 percent. Stellantis (59 percent) and General Motors (55 percent) are the last ones.
Source: Automotive News/Bank of America
The cards are shuffled differently when it comes to electrification. For example, GM, which hardly exists in Europe after the acquisition of Opel, will almost exclusively launch electric models in the coming years. With other brands, hybrids and cars with a combustion engine play an even greater role, although it is clear that the EV is seen as ‘the way to go’.
Source: Automotive News/Bank of America
With regard to the figures, it should be noted that Bank of America is of course reasoning from the US. Although it is never stated that one is limited to that market and that European brands are indeed reviewed, figures between here and there can clearly differ because the range of car manufacturers simply does the same. The years mentioned are also model years, a term that is only actively used here by a few manufacturers.