European automakers are largely withdrawing small-volume models with internal combustion engines from production due to tightening environmental requirements. informs Automotive News Europe.
In 2022, the compact subcompact segment has shrunk to almost half of its 2017 peak sales, when 1.2 million microcars were sold on the European market.
This was in conjunction with the 2022 withdrawal of compact models Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 and Smart ForFour, which left the market after Opel Karl and Adam, Skoda Citigo, Ford Ka, Seat Mii and Suzuki Celerio. Companies are moving away from ICE compact vehicles to both contain rising costs and reduce fleet average carbon emissions.
By reducing the urban “compact” model range, automakers are trying to reduce the cost of developing new generations in conjunction with the soon-to-be introduced Euro-7 environmental standard. Automakers plan to leave only electric models in this segment.
It was previously known that the Chinese automaker Haval. opened to the public Photo of a new large SUV.