Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #225 - May 28 - June 3, 2021

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

Apple has seen multiple high-level managers depart from its AV vehicle team in recent months.

EXPANDING

Matsu Ohio will expand its Williams County, Ohio, facility. The seat and door panel manufacturer will add new machinery and equipment.

HUMAN CAPITAL

Goodyear is facing accusations of overworking and underpaying employees at its factory in Malaysia.

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

LMC explores upcoming battery technologies that remove cobalt from the equation.

BMW says its Chinese plants will achieve carbon neutrality by the end of this year. They added that its total Chinese carbon emissions would fall 80% by 2030.

LITIGATION

Daimler has agreed to pay Nokia a licensing fee for using its patented technology, ending the legal battle between the two.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

Renault will combine its Douai, Ruitz, and Maubeuge plants in France into a new EV-focused company, Renault ElectriCity.

Beijing Hyundai is in talks with the Chinese government to sell one of its three factories in Beijing. EV maker Li Auto is interested in taking over the factory from the Hyundai / BAIC joint venture.

OPENING

Flex-N-Gate is opening a new 659k sf plant in Effingham, Illinois. The plant will create up to 50 jobs initially, with a goal of 300 in the future.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has started construction of a $12B chipmaking plant near Phoenix, Arizona. The plant will begin production by 2024.

Stellantis is considering Italy in its plans to build a new European gigafactory. The company has two existing battery production projects in France and Germany.

EV battery producer, InoBat, broke ground on a combination R&D center and pilot production line facility in Voderady, Slovakia.

Chinese EV battery maker CATL is planning to build a new battery plant in Shanghai. With a planned production capacity at 80GWh per year, it should produce enough to power roughly 800k vehicles.

PRODUCTION DECREASE

Mahindra anticipates that car sales in India won't return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.

PRODUCTION INCREASE

Stellantis returned to full production this week at its plants in Detroit and Warren, Michigan. Both plants had drastically cut output due to microchip supply constraints.

Renesas' fire-damaged plant in Naka, Japan, is running at 88% capacity. The automotive semiconductor manufacturer expects normal production levels in mid-June.

GM expects to increase the production of pickup trucks due to "production line efficiencies."

SHUTDOWN

After just resuming production this week, Stellantis has announced that its Windsor, Ontario minivan plant will shut down again for the weeks of June 7 and 14th. The plant was initially idled on March 29.

Nissan is shutting down its plants in Aguascalientes and its CIVAC plant in Morelos, Mexico. The facilities will close for seven days in June due to the semiconductor shortage.

Due to a nationwide lockdown from June 1-14, Toyota and Honda will halt production at their factories in Malaysia.

SUPPLY CHAIN

With chipmakers demanding guaranteed, long-term orders, carmakers may need to rethink their just-in-time approach to electronic components.