Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #316

February 24 - March 2, 2023 by Elm Analytics

Change In Management

Ford has named Sam Wu as the new president and chief executive of Ford China. Wu was previously Ford China's managing director and chief operating officer.

Human Capital

Stellantis is joining Ford in cutting costs in Europe. The company will cut up to 2k jobs in Italy this year through planned exists. The transition from ICE to EV, high inflation, and ongoing supply chain issues drive the belt-tightening.

GM is also dropping around 500 salaried workers in cost reduction efforts. Oddly, in January, CEO Mary Barra said that GM was "not planning layoffs."

Alphabet's Waymo cut 137 jobs in its second set of layoffs this year. The company has laid off about 8% of its workforce.

Facing truck driver shortages, Stellantis and Renault are recruiting internally. They're helping workers get commercial licenses to deliver finished vehicles.

Mergers, Ventures, Acquisitions

Recharge Industries successfully bid to buy Britishvolt, which filed for administration this past January. The Australian company intends to build the initially planned gigafactory in Cambois, England.

Ford rehired 550 ex-Argo AI employees to staff Latitude AI, its new ADAS subsidiary. Argo AI shut down last year when Ford and VW pulled funding from the company.

Gotion's plans for its Michigan anode and cathode materials plants are uncertain. The company is waiting on MDOE permits and state incentive approval. It has also faced local pushback due to environmental concerns and its ties to China.

Stellantis is investing $150M into three of its plants in Kokomo, Indiana, to retool them for building and assembling EV drive modules.

Opening

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced this week that Tesla would build a "major plant" in Monterrey, Mexico.

VW's board is reportedly meeting today to discuss the location of a new US factory for Scout. While sources say the company considered outsourcing to Foxconn or Magna, it ultimately decided to build its own facility.

Production Decrease

Rivian dropped its forecast to 50k vehicles citing ongoing supply chain issues, a recall, and bad weather.

Production Increase

Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin announced it had produced 4k Model Y EVs in a week. At that rate, the facility would be manufacturing 200k vehicles annually.

Raw Material Costs

Prices for lithium and cobalt have dropped significantly over the past few months. Demand has fallen due to China's EV subsidies ending along with fewer computers and phones sold. Supply has increased with more mines coming online.

Recalls

Nissan recalled over 800k SUVs due to a vehicle's key defect that can cause the ignition to shut off while it is being driven. The recall covers certain Rogues from 2014-2020 and Rogue Sports from 2017-2022.

Regulation

Germany has asked the EU to create rules to allow ICE vehicles running on climate-neutral fuels to be sold after 2035. These E-fuels are made from captured CO2 emissions and ideally emit the same amount of CO2 when combusted. Last year's law requires all cars to have zero emissions.

Risk Analytics

Analysis: CATL's 'price war' shows its power, and China's EV edge

Shutdown

Ford will restart production of its F-150 Lightning EV on March 13. Production stopped on February 4 after a fire occurred in a holding area while the pickup was charging.

Due to reduced demand, Pakistan's Agriauto Industries Limited and Agriauto Stamping Company will partially shut down in March. The company supplies Indus Motor, Pak Suzuki, Atlas Honda, and Yamaha Motor Pakistan.