Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #260 - January 28 - February 3, 2022

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

Valeo appointed Christophe Périllat as its new CEO. The outgoing CEO, Jacques Aschenbroich, will remain chairman of the board.

Electric Last Mile Solutions' CEO James Taylor and Chairman Jason Luo both stepped down this week. The board found that they didn't get independent valuations before buying equity in ELMS.

EARNING DIP

Volvo reported a 20% dip in sales for January due to the ongoing chip shortage. The automaker says that production has improved gradually but that retail deliveries were held back "due to an increase of cars in transit."

New car sales in Italy fell 20% in January due to the end of government incentives for EVs. Consumer incentives for EVs ended in October 2021.

HUMAN CAPITAL

Opel wants to hire hundreds of temporary workers to launch its new Astra model in Germany. The company cites a rise in Omicron-related worker absences. Over the past two years, the company cut 2.1k positions from its three German plants.

Unions and lobby groups in Italy say that the transition to EVs could put around 73k jobs in the country at risk.

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

GM told investors that it plans to focus on EV investments instead of more significant profits. The company will spend nearly $10B/y on capital for the next several years.

A peek at automakers' 2022 Super Bowl ads.

LABOR DISPUTE

Workers at GM's assembly plant in Silao, Mexico, have voted for a new independent coalition to represent them. The roughly 6.5k workers ousted their old-guard union last year.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

Daimler officially rebranded as Mercedes-Benz this week.

Faurecia has closed its acquisition of a controlling stake in Hella for $5.95B. As a result, they will hold a 79.5% ownership stake in the company.

OPENING

Estonia's Skeleton Technologies plans to build a new factory in Saxony, Germany. They are working on combining quick charging supercapacitors with solid-state lithium batteries.

Verkor, a French battery startup, will build a gigafactory near Dunkirk, France. The 50GWh site will supply Renault's Alpine EVs built in Dieppe.

PRODUCTION DECREASE

Toyota has dropped production at its San Antonio plant to just one shift. The rollout of the new Tundra model slowed due to Covid and supply chain disruptions.

RECALLS

Tesla recalled 54k cars due to a bug in the self-driving software that could let them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete stop. The recall covers Model S and X vehicles from 2016-2022, Model 3's from 2017-2022, and Model Y's from 2020-2022.

Tesla recalled yet another 817k vehicles over an issue that can cause the seat belt reminder chimes to stop going off. The fix will come via an over-the-air software update early this month.

REGULATION

U.S. Department of Commerce: Results from Semiconductor Supply Chain Request for Information

RISK ANALYTICS

Automotive News reports on controversial changes to Stellantis' purchasing terms and conditions. The new language "...can force North American suppliers to reduce prices whenever they achieve any cost savings and to remain locked into unfavorable contracts for as long the automaker wants."

Foley & Lardner put together an overview of the changes. Their chart identifies implications and possible responses for affected suppliers.