Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #235 - August 6 - 12, 2021
CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT
The US Senate confirmed Jennifer Homendy as the new chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Homendy has been a member of the board since 2018.
Volkswagen has named former Samsung executive Cameron Batten as its new communications chief for North America.
INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS
Catch the latest episode of the Center for Automotive Research's podcast covering the Management Briefing Seminars.
ON Semiconductor announced this week that it will rebrand itself as "onsemi" and is adapting its operations to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.
LABOR DISPUTE
Mexico's Tridonex agreed to settle worker's rights complaints after a USMCA triggered labor enforcement negotiation took place.
MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS
Veoneer will start talks with Qualcomm after Qualcomm submitted a $4.6B bid to buy the company. The bid was 18.4% more than the board accepted offer from Magna.
SK Innovation is spinning off its battery production and exploration & production business as independent companies.
Faurecia, Plastic Omnium, and Mahle all submitted bids to buy a 60% stake in Hella. The family that founded the lighting supplier will make a decision this weekend. Germany's takeover rules would trigger a takeover bid for the remaining 40% of shares.
Toyota Tsusho America, South Mobility Products, and SteelSummit Holding have formed a new JV called Madison Metal Processing to supply steel blanks to the new Mazda Toyota plant in Huntsville, Alabama. The $40M, 110k sq ft operation has already begun trial production and will enter full production by mid-2022.
OPENING
Lear Corporation will build a $48M, 684k sq ft seat manufacturing facility in Detroit, Michigan. The factory expects to create hundreds of jobs at the site of the former Cadillac Stamping Plant.
Rivian is considering a second US plant near Fort Worth, Texas. Sources believe the factory will also manufacture battery cells.
Chinese EV battery maker Gotion is planning to build two new lithium carbonate plants in Yichu, China. The plants will start production by the end of 2022 and eventually have a combined yearly capacity of 100,000 tonnes.
Foxconn is planning EV plants in the US and Thailand in 2022 to begin mass production in 2023. The US plant will produce vehicles for Fisker, where the Thailand facility will make EVs built with PTT.
The company announced it would buy a semiconductor fabrication plant from Macronix International. Foxconn plans to build EV components at the Xinzhou, Taiwan, facility.
RECALLS
Ford aims to replace the hardtop roofs on every 2021 Bronco SUV due to an "appearance/quality concern."
REGULATION
The US Senate passed a $1T infrastructure plan representing the most significant spending on US public works in decades. The bill still has to get through the House, which doesn't resume session until September 20.
This week, the US Senate also voted for a non-binding amendment to President Biden's $3.5T budget resolution that would limit who can get a tax break for buying an EV car or truck and which vehicle qualify.
SHUTDOWN
Nissan is shutting down its assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, for two weeks starting Monday due to a COVID-19 outbreak at a chip factory in Malaysia.
Volvo is temporarily halting production in Gothenburg, Sweden, due to the ongoing global chip shortage.
Container ships have begun to pile up after a terminal was shut down in Ningbo, China. The port area closed due to COVID-19 cases.