Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #228 - June 18 - 24, 2021

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

Ford has named former Renault exec Franck Louis-Victor the new head of its autonomous vehicle and mobility suppliers teams.

Toyota Europe has named the current CEO of its mobility brand Kinto, Tom Fux, as its new head of sales and marketing.

EARNING DIP

VW's sales of EVs in China are well below expectations. It only sold 1.2k of the newly launched ID.4 in May. The company targeted 50k-60k ID.4 sales this year.

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

Audi announced this week that they would be an all-EV brand starting in 2026 - except in China.

Volkswagen has partnered with Siemens and HP to employ a new 3D printing process known as binder jetting in producing vehicles. Instead of building components layer by layer from metallic powder, this new process uses an adhesive.

LABOR

Mexico's Labor Ministry pushed the deadline to August 20 for a union vote at GM's Silao plant in Guanajuato, Mexico. Officials found evidence of destroyed ballots at the original date in April.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

Michigan's HDT Automotive is acquiring Germany's Veritas AG. The venture advances HDT's EV and hybrid fluid handling and thermal management solutions.

Troy, Michigan-based Eissmann Group Automotive, finalized its purchase of Minda KTSN, taking over its plant in Querétaro, Mexico. The injection molder filed for insolvency in June 2020. Eissmann acquired its plants in Pirna, Germany, and Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Porsche has created a joint venture with Customcells to produce EV cells. Cellforce Group will build a gigafactory near its Weissach Development Center in Germany.

OPENING

Plastic parts manufacturer Plastikon is planning a new plant in Austin, Texas. The plant would supply parts to Tesla.

US EV Startup Canoo plans to build a new assembly plant in Pryor, Oklahoma, to build its pod-shaped vans. The factory will employ over 2k and manufacture over 150k vehicles/year.

CATL-SC's production battery plant in Yibin, China, is now operating in its first phase.

Volvo is forming a new JV with Northvolt to build a battery gigafactory in Europe. The location is TBA, but the planned start of production is 2026.

RECALLS

Nissan recalled 138k Sentra sedans due to potentially bent tie rods. The recall affects Sentras from 2020 and 2021.

REGULATION

The United States International Trade Commission found that Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam were dumping tires. The tires were sold and subsidized for less than fair value.

RISK ANALYTICS

At the Qatar Economic Forum earlier this week, Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg said that copper supplies need to increase by 1M tons/year until 2050 to meet an expected global demand of 60M tons.

SHUTDOWN

Stellantis is idling production at its plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and Toluca, Mexico, for the week of July 5 due to the continuing impact of the semiconductor shortage.

Mazda is shutting down at its Hofu Plant in Yamaguchi, Japan, for ten days in July due to chip shortages.

Semiconductor shortages have Subaru cutting production at its plants in Gunma, Japan, in July.

VW stopped operations at its Nizhny Novgorod plant in Russia. Assembly halted June 17-18, 21-22, due to a shortage of microcontrollers.