What is your favorite car in 2024?
Honestly, I don’t have anyat least among the new models, because they bore me. The money formerly spent by manufacturers to refine a chassis or a thermal engine is now used to develop electric vehicles! Furthermore, I observed well quality concerns manufacturing by reputable brands.
Headlights that fog up and hazardous assemblies on the Mercedes CLE, lower quality plastics from BMW and especially Audi, a Citroën C3 that is losing pieces… I know, I’m downright mean, never happy! Come on, yes, there is one that surprised me with its incredible price-performance ratio : the MG ZS Hybrid +. But that’s because I haven’t tried the Fiat Tipo again, which comes at a crazy price! I also notice that electric sales are slipping, and I am happy about that because it will perhaps encourage some decision-makers to think…
Which car disappointed you?
I was going to mention the Renault 5 E-Tech for its huge price and its lack of comfort, but in fact, it is within the norm of its category (that’s saying something…). In fact, the one that really disappointed me was the BMW I5. This is a large car with a reduced finish and rear roominess worthy of a city car. Furthermore, even if this electric car places its engine in the stern, it is incapable of having a trunk under its very long hood, and demands a high price for its banal electrical services. What’s the point?
The 2025 model you’re looking forward to?
Again, none. Electrified and monstrously heavy models arrive, ignoring all intelligence. They have the gift of horrifying me, especially since they are sold very expensively! To be honest, I would like Dacia to install the 1.3 TCE 160 hp (non-hybrid!) in the Sandero to create a compact, efficient and inexpensive car. But that’s obviously not going to happen.
In the auto news, what annoyed you the most?
Overall, it is the acceleration of obstacles to automobile traffic. In particular, as I live near Paris, the Périphérique limited without a serious impact study to 50 km/h. There were legal means to counter Anne Hidalgo, but everyone lay down in front of herfrom the prefect to the ministry, who issued a lunar press release on this subject! Obviously, this drop in speed has a spillover effect, since sections of the A86 and the A4, in particular, drop from 90 km/h to 70 km/h.
However, thanks to AI, we could have act more intelligentlyby establishing variable speed limits, for example by leaving the Périf’ at 70 km/h at night, or by only reducing it to limit congestion. But it is very unlikely that users would have respected them: overall we are not not mature enough for that. That said, someone will have to explain to me, given the crisis which will worsen, how we improve economic exchanges by constantly reducing the average speed of cars…
What does Anne Hidalgo’s departure inspire you?
Honestly, I don’t care. Whether with her or someone else, you must apply the European directives in terms of urban pollution. And in inner Paris, public transport being very efficient, the car is practically useless!
Furthermore, other large cities in the Old Continent, such as Madrid for example, apply restrictions that are even more violent than those in force in our capital. So, it is entirely possible that succeeds Anne Hidalgo, who still tolerates the old gray card collection in Paris, a person even more radical…
The departure of Carlos Tavares: too bad or so much the better?
Too early to say. Certainly, he was very harsh with his subordinates and went way too far in cost reductionbut PSA then Stellantis needed improvement in terms of productivity. Indeed, in 2014, Tavarès took over a PSA group in very bad shape. If he did not save it, as is often said, because successful models were arriving (3008 and 5008 2nd generation), he did. tremendously accelerated the recovery. We should not forget it.
The big problem is that it took place at the expense of quality (the Puretech affair is the most glaring example) and investment in new products, in Europe as in the USA. The Italian Fiat range is reduced to nothing, just like those of Chrysler and Dodge, Lancia is not starting again, and Maserati is dying. But there, Tavarès above all inherited a situation impossible to resolve in 4 years, the duration of his mandate at the head of Stellantis. If it is so that he can be succeeded by Elkann-Agnelli who have notoriously underinvested in the Fiat Group for a long time, precipitating its fall and its entry into Stellantis, not sure that the situation will improve anytime soon.
Especially since it is very unlikely that the person who succeeds him will question, standardization of PSA technologies which is raging throughout the European part of the group, while Fiat, which has innovated enormously during its history, has engines that are much more reliable than the Puretech and HDi… A more balanced management of resources, both technical and human, seems necessary , especially since the Italians certainly did not appreciate seeing the French take over key positions in the former Fiat Group, nor the Americans seeing themselves neglected. Fortunately, Tavarès has not started the activities of the Italian giant in Brazil, a market that it still dominates. Besides, there, the Peugeot 208 uses a motor Firefly…
When will you go electric?
Never ! At least as long as electrical technology will be immature and non-European. Paying much more for cars with a range that is sometimes ridiculous and a source of stress, charging times that are far too long, a lack of engine approval and a completely crazy excess weight, very little for me. Furthermore, this involves the sacrifice of our automobile industryat least in part because we cannot currently compete with China in battery production, so a big social coffersand I can’t stand that. It’s not as if the movement of Yellow Vests never existed…
Another collateral effect of the pressure on electrification, the average age of the vehicle fleet continues to increase: 12 years now. For what ? Because people can’t afford new carsthe average price of which has jumped from €27,000 to €35,000 in 5 years due in particular to the electrification necessary for their approval given the CO2 thresholds constantly lowered by Europe. Not to mention the completely crazy penalties ! As for subsidizing electrics, therefore giving money to China which produces the batteries, we no longer have the means.
As a result, cars break down more and more as they age, and there is a shortage of mechanics. Great for the mobility of the less fortunate among us, who, moreover, see themselves excluded from certain urban areas. This also means that by wanting to “green” the park, we hinder its natural renewal, therefore the arrival of more eco-friendly models if only because they meet the latest standards… In time for the necessary reduction in pollution !
Your car wish for 2025
Let the legislators ask themselves and think pragmatically on what they do to cars and motorists. The ban on cars bearing Crit’air 3 (4 and 5) stickers only serves to penalize the poorest : old, these models are destined to disappear in the short term anyway. Note also that the exclusion of Crit’air 4 and 5 has not had no impact on pollution in the Paris metropolitan area! Moreover, we gave up banning the Crit’air 2 in 2024, as was planned, and we were careful not to install automatic control systems… That we must fight against climate change is imperative, but more intelligent means than those currently in force exist!
