Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #263 - February 18 - 24, 2022

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

GM has promoted Shilpan Amin to become president of GM International. Steve Kiefer, the current chief, is retiring effective April 1 after four decades with the company. GM expects to name Amin's replacement as VP of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain soon.

Nikola has named Michael Lohscheller, the former CEO of Opel and head of VinFast, its new president.

EXPANDING

Tesla will invest more into its Shanghai gigafactory to increase vehicle production. The plant finished 2021 with an annual production rate of over 800k vehicles.

Bosch is investing $282.5M into expanding chip production in Reutlingen, Germany. The investment is in addition to $56M earmarked for the plant last year.

HUMAN CAPITAL

Hitachi subsidiary GlobalLogic is evacuating 7.2k of its employees in Ukraine out of the country following Russia's military invasion this week.

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

While Mercedes-Benz expects only to be producing EVs by the second half of this decade, they plan to steer clear of building EV-only plants for now to maintain flexibility.

GM and its self-driving unit, Cruise, are petitioning US regulators to build and deploy self-driving vehicles without human controls. The automaker added that they plan to start producing its new Cruise Origin vehicle this year.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

Apollo Global Management is buying Tenneco and taking the company private in a $1.6B deal. The company has faced headwinds, including the acquisition of Federal-Mogul and management turmoil.

Bosch is acquiring Atlatec, a 3D mapping company that supports Level 3 and 4 autonomy.

OPENING

In addition to the investment in their existing gigafactory, Tesla is also planning a whole new plant in Shanghai. The plant would double its production capacity to around 2M vehicles per year.

Rivian's planned EV plant in Georgia has drawn local pushback. Area residents' traffic and environmental concerns threatened to delay construction. The state of Georgia stepped in and recently purchased the land for the plant. By consolidating zoning and compliance processes, they hope to address community concerns and Rivian's timeline.

Dana will open an EV engineering tech center in Novi, Michigan.

Magna and Land Manufacturing Group are forming a new $18M JV to open a new seating plant in Detroit. The plant, to be opened at the former Sakthi Automotive Group site, will create 390 jobs and produce seats for Ford trucks and SUVs.

PRODUCTION INCREASE

Stellantis' Windsor, Ontario, minivan plant is extending production. The move from two shifts to one has been pushed back from spring to summer.

RAW MATERIALS

The Ukraine crisis brought on record-high aluminum and nickel prices this week. Of note: Russia's palladium and platinum exports and their use in catalytic converters.

RECALLS

Ford recalled over 300k 2015-17 Mustangs across the US due to backup cameras failing to display a proper image.

REGULATION

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said this week that the automaker would have to either transfer production from its Kaluga, Russia plant to other plants or limit production if western sanctions affect their operations.

The EU introduced a proposed due diligence law that could hold companies accountable for environmental or human rights breaches within their supply chain.

IHS Markit's Fuel for Thought: India's Decarbonization Goals and The EV Conundrum

RISK ANALYTICS

Renault, Stellantis, and VW are evaluating how sanctions could affect their Russian facilities.