Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #224 - May 21 - 27, 2021

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

OSRAM Licht AG's supervisory board and CFO Kathrin Dahnke have mutually agreed to terminate her contract by the end of June.

EXPANDING

Bridgestone is expanding its Williamsburg, Kentucky, Firestone Plant. The 68k sq ft addition will add capacity to produce air suspensions for the EV industry.

HUMAN CAPITAL

Audi is putting 10k of its German workers on part-time hours as a result of the semiconductor shortage.

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

Ford is boosting spending on its EV efforts by 33% to have 40% of its global volume be electric by 2030.

Hyundai will reduce the number of combustion engine models by 50% to invest in EVs.

LABOR DISPUTE

After rejecting a deal earlier this month, union workers at Volvo's Virginia truck plant have reached a second tentative labor agreement with additional gains.

Switching gears, GM now says it will support the UAW"s efforts to unionize employees at two new US EV battery factories it's building.

LITIGATION

BMW and VW should face reduced fines in the catalytic converter collusion case. EU regulators have narrowed the scope of the investigation.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

Tesla is teaming up with Dutch charging infrastructure company Fastned to build EV charging stations in the UK. The hub of 38 charging stations will open at the end of this year.

OPENING

Korean supplier Duckyang is building a new $10M, 230k sq ft plant in Braselton, Georgia. The plant will produce battery modules for EV battery maker SK Battery America's plant in Commerce, Georgia.

LG and state-owned EV battery maker IBC are building a $1.2B battery plant with a 10GWh production capacity in Bekasi.

Germany's e.Go will build an EV assembly plant in Mexico with QUESTUM.

This year, Japanese auto interior component supplier Chiyoda Integre is opening its first US plant in Lancaster, Ohio. The 50k sq ft plant will make cushions, double-sided tapes, interior materials, and insulator films.

Magna International will invest $31M into a new vehicle mirror plant in Duncan, South Carolina. The plant will begin production in early 2022.

Nissan and Envision have partnered to build a battery plant in Japan and the UK. Renault is in talks to use the same battery technology.

RAW MATERIALS

Automakers are facing rising steel costs and possible shortages. The current $1.6k / ton price is triple the 20y average and up 60% in 2021.

REGULATION

With the Texas Legislature about to break until Jan. 2023, Tesla will be forced to ship the vehicles it makes in Austin out-of-state to sell to Texas customers. The legislature will not have time to decide on a bill that would allow Tesla to sell directly to customers until 2023.

SHUTDOWN

Ford halted production at its Chennai, India plant due to surging coronavirus cases. Auto factories have been one of the few that have been allowed to stay open in the state of Tamil Nadu, with more than 30k cases a day.

Renault and Hyundai have also both shut down their plants in Tamil Nadu. The companies were facing pressure from the workers union regarding rising COVID-19 cases.