Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #320

March 24 - 30, 2023 by Elm Analytics

Cyber Security

A French team at an ethical hacking conference completed two hacks on a Tesla Model 3 in under 2 minutes.

Human Capital

Lucid is laying off 1.3k employees, about 18% of its workforce, as part of its restructuring effort. The company lost $1.3B in 2022.

Labor

In his inaugural address this week, new UAW President Shawn Fain said that the union would "ready ourselves for...war" against corporations who refuse to give its members their fair share. He added, "It's a new day in the UAW."

Mergers, Ventures, Acquisitions

Tesla is reportedly considering building a battery plant in Texas with China's CATL. The company had reached out to White House officials related to IRA clarifications.

Ford partnered with PT Vale Indonesia and China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt to build a $4.5B nickel processing plant in Pomalaa, Indonesia. In 2020, Indonesia banned the export of unprocessed nickel to encourage investment.

Opening

LG Energy is investing $5.5B into two new battery plants in Queen Creek, Arizona. One plant will build cylindrical EV batteries, and the other will build pouch-type LFP batteries for energy storage systems.

Microvast is investing over $500M into a new EV battery component plant near Lousiville, Kentucky. President Biden's 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure law covers $200M of the investment.

Magna Seating is planning a new $100M plant in Auburn Hills, Michigan, to build seats for future GM EVs. The new plant will create around 500 new jobs.

Indie Semiconductor will open an automotive semiconductor design and testing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Canada's Nova Steel opened its third plant in Coahuila, Mexico.

Production Increase

UK car production rose 13% in February compared to the previous month as supply chain issues have started to ease. It marks the UK's first production rise in three months.

Raw Materials

SAFE has published a report calling on the US, EU, and Japan to band their buying power to shape rare earth material standards. The Washington think tank aligned with IRA goals wants to pressure China and Indonesia to produce raw materials in a human and environmentally conscious manner. They represent that this would level the playing field and change the focus from competing on cost alone.

Ascend Materials' plant in Covington, Georgia, is helping solve an EV supply chain kink by recycling EV batteries for reuse in new batteries. A spokesperson added, "Electric vehicle battery materials are infinitely recyclable."

Recalls

Honda recalled over 330k vehicles due to a potential side mirror defect that could cause the glass to fall out.

Regulation

Today, the US Department of Treasury will release its guidance for EV tax breaks in the Inflation Reduction Act. Reuters: Factbox: How US electric vehicle subsidy rules impact Europe

The EU and Germany have agreed to allow exemptions to the 2035 ICE phaseout for cars that run on e-fuels ending a legislative standoff.

US lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill this week that would raise penalties on employers who violate child labor laws. The legislation responds to recent discoveries of child labor at Hyundai suppliers in Alabama.

Ford withdrew its 2021 NHTSA petition to deploy 2.5k self-driving vehicles. The company cited its decision to shutter Argo AI.

Shutdown

Due to economic conditions, Goodyear is extending its Europe, the Middle East, and Africa winter production shutdown. The company reduced production by 3.5M tires in Q4 2022.

Supply Chain

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said this week that he doesn't think enough raw materials are readily available to meet growing EV demand. He pointed specifically to lithium and added, "Not only the lithium may not be enough, but the concentration of the mining of lithium may create other geopolitical issues."