Mitsubishi reshuffles the C-suite amid tariff pressure, Renault pulls Ampere back into the core, and GM, Mercedes, and BMW reposition production to improve cost and trade resilience. Add winter-storm disruption risk, supplier financial stress, and a potential DRAM squeeze. Suddenly, 2026 planning just got harder. January 16 - 22, 2026, by Elm Analytics
The DRAM squeeze section is particularly concerning - memory chip prices rising over 100% with potential Q2 disruptions feels like a smaller echo of the pandemic chip crunch. The detail about Slovakia being the world's top carmaker per capita (1M vehicles with only 5.4M population) was also surprizing to learn.
It will be interesting to see which manufacturers have locked in pricing and for how long. With new chip fab capacity having a 2 to 3 year delay from commitment to line-ready construction, it could be a supply chain issue that sticks around for a while.
Couldn't agree more. Your continuous tracking of these supply chain dynamics, especially with AI's looming impact on DRAM, is always so insightful.
The DRAM squeeze section is particularly concerning - memory chip prices rising over 100% with potential Q2 disruptions feels like a smaller echo of the pandemic chip crunch. The detail about Slovakia being the world's top carmaker per capita (1M vehicles with only 5.4M population) was also surprizing to learn.
It will be interesting to see which manufacturers have locked in pricing and for how long. With new chip fab capacity having a 2 to 3 year delay from commitment to line-ready construction, it could be a supply chain issue that sticks around for a while.