Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #60 - March 30 - April 5, 2018

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

GM has announced that they will cease reporting sales on a monthly basis and instead report them on a quarterly basis. US VP of Sales, Kurt McNeil, says that, "Thirty days is not enough time to separate real sales trends from short-term fluctuations..."

BMW's subscription car service pilot, Access by BMW, is launching this week in Nashville. Customers will pay a monthly fee to use vehicles that also includes maintenance, insurance and roadside assistance.

LABOR DISPUTE

The UAW chapter representing workers at GM's Spring Hill, TN assembly plant have reached a new local agreement for employees with no concessions from the union. The agreement goes hand in hand with the union's national agreement which comes up for renewal in October 2019.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

Motherson Sumi Systems is acquiring Reydel Automotive Group for $201m. Reydel produces instrument panels, door panels, console modules, decorative parts and cockpit modules.

Osram and Continental are forming a new 50-50 joint venture called Osram Continental GmbH. The new company will be headquartered in Munich with a presence planned through the US, Europe, and Asia.

Magna is forming a joint venture with a subsidiary of Chinese automaker GAC to build composite liftgates in China. The 55,900sf plant will employ 116 workers and begin production later this year.

PLANT EXPANSION

Seating supplier Adient is investing $10.8m into the expansion of their plant in Lexington, Tennessee. The expansion will add new assembly equipment, expand production lines and create approximately 200 jobs.

PLANT OPENING

UK's Red Sun Group is investing around $140.5m in a new CAD CAM Automotive plant in Coventry, England. The plant will build hybrid commercial vehicles starting with production of the MetroCab.

Tristone Flowtech is building a new 215,000sf plant in Mooresville, NC. The plant will employ 300 and produce engine cooling hose systems, air charge hose systems, and fluid battery cooling systems.

Axalta Coatings has opened a new 56,000sf plant in Gujarat, India. The plant is a part of their current manufacturing operations in Gujarat and will double their coating manufacturing capacity there.

Republic Steel is closing its Hamilton, Ontario plant and moving it to a facility in Solon, Ohio. About 60 workers have been affected by the move.

PLANT SHUTDOWN

Cable theft, disrupting power, is halting production at Ford, BMW and Nissan assembly plants in Rosslyn, Tshwane, South Africa.

PRODUCTION INCREASE

Kobe Steel is investing $471m into their domestic facilities to increase their output of high-tensile steel. They plan to build a new production line at their Kakogawa, Japan plant that will raise capacity by 240,000 tonnes. 

Amid Brexit fears, PSA Groupe is planning to build a new van and increase production at its Vauxhall plant in Luton, England. The plant's capacity will increase from 60,000 to 100,000 vehicles per year in 2019.

REGULATION

The EPA is planning to relax Obama-era fuel efficiency standards with EPA administrator Scott Pruitt stating that the standards are "too high" and "didn't comport with reality". The standards called for doubling fuel economy by 2025 to around 50 miles/gallon.

Even after 7 months of NAFTA negotiations, 24 of the scheduled 30 chapters remain unresolved. Approaching US and Mexican elections will slow negotiations after April.

With trading tensions escalating between the US and China, German automakers making cars in the US could stand to lose the most along with Tesla and Ford. The US exports around 270,000 vehicles to China per year.

RISK ANALYTICS

DW Business: "The strange tale of Volkswagen and its Bosnian supplier"