In this week's chat with the motoring industry's top dogs, we hear why Maserati wants to sell less models, how McLaren plans to build on its recent successes, and more.
McLaren heads for the big leagues
McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt predicts another year of steady growth for the firm, up from 4800 sales in 2018 but still below 5000. He then expects to breach that landmark in 2020, ahead of growing to around 6000 annual sales early over the next five years. “It won’t be driven by new model lines necessarily, but more growing markets such as Russia, India and South America,” said Flewitt.
Ssang-ing diesel’s praises
Diesel has been “over-demonised”, according to Ssangyong’s new UK managing director, Nick Laird. “That’s what our customers tell us,” he said. “For them, value for money is very important. Many of them are rurally based and quite comfortable with diesel. I think for those kinds of people, there will be a market for diesel for a long time, particularly in larger cars.”
High roof, low sales
Don’t expect a replacement for the Volkswagen VW Golf SV. Sales of the top hat-friendly Volkswagen Golf have dwindled and the firm is now unlikely to replace it, sales and marketing boss Jürgen Stackmann has revealed. “Cars like that will shift out of our portfolio,” he said, adding that VW was looking to simplify line-ups with fewer engines and trims.
Add your comment