“It seems that weeks went by in the muscular room.” John Elkann, president of Stellantis, has summarized this week in a size size size such as pesos suffered by cars in recent decades. And it is enough to take a look at the first R5 in Renault and its version of the 21st century to see that under the same last name, these two small models (for their time) have nothing to do in terms of dimension.
The R5 of the 70s was shown in the balance of 730 kilos when the modern, 100% electric version shows more than 1.3 tons (the battery requires). The modern R5 is also almost 40 centimeters more than its ancestor, even if it remains below 4 meters, this new R5 is still a small model.
The Kearney cabinet has performed the same analysis in another model, a little larger, and has only been evolving for half a century: golf. For a shorter period, between Golf 4 of 2005 and Golf 8 of 2025, the compact Volkswagen took almost 200 kg on the scale and won almost 15 centimeters.
An invoice that also flies
His invoice was in parallel to almost 20,000 euros when observing the facial price. Part of this sum of the course covers the increase in costs as raw materials such as workers’ salaries and engineers that manufacture vehicles. The rest comes from the entire new mandatory team. The increasingly high price than the general director of Renault Luca de Meo and the head of Stellantis, John Elkann, reported (not without a paradox at the beginning of the week. “Between 2015 and 2030, the cost of a CLIO will have increased by 40%, Luca de Meo recalled. This increase is 92.5% attributable to regulations” and to attract special regulations for small models.
In the last twenty years, eleven main regulatory texts have been approved at European level, affecting several subjects, such as the fall in CO2 emissions, taking into account contaminants or security improvements. So many texts that have taken new teams, who must find a place in the restricted space of a car.
In 2018, for example, the European standard “808 EU” requests to strengthen security in case of a pedestrian shock. However, to absorb the energy of a shock, a larger surface is necessary, therefore, a generalized extension of the bells in many models.
Larger, safer and less polluting vehicles
Successive regulations to avoid the stroke of the rabbit and, therefore, strengthen safety during rear side clashes, have led to generalize front and lateral airbags, but also to strengthen beans and body elements. Much more weight in the vehicle.
“If we take the example of the golf course, it should also be said that, in parallel, manufacturers have worked hard to lighten the vehicles, it reminds us of Sébastien Amichi, associated by the car in Kearney. Without this work, we would not be in 200 kg additional, but in 500 or 600 kg more.”
So many elements that weigh a lot on the bill. The new GSR2 standard last year, which adds a dozen driving aid and security equipment, also increases almost 1,500 euros in manufacturing costs. Summer summarizes more and more difficult to transmit the price of small models (which cost as expensive as the largest). Therefore, this standard led to stop the Twingo and Zoé, or launch a new generation of Dacia Spring, more expensive than the previous one.
“We should not forget that if the cars are growing, also at the request of customers who have space, at least four places, more storage,” said Alexandre Marian, associated in charge of the car in Alixparters.
If regulations have made vehicles grow, they have also improved security and the fight against pollution. It seems impossible to have differentiated regulations on these safety or pollution problems dedicated to small cars, as the two patterns require. Some brands no longer necessarily work after the 5 Euro NCAP Stars, the independent body that classifies cars according to their security level.
Reflect on the other hand to offer small affordable cars remains an interesting axis to restore people the possibility of buying cars. The arrival of the new electric twingo around 20,000 euros next year will be a good test. And many projects bloom in France in small lighter vehicles. The success of cars without a license such as Citroën Ami suggests a lighter car micro-moving market daily.
Source: BFM TV
