Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #291 - September 2 - 8, 2022

Sep 9, 2022

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

Stellantis NV has appointed Chris Taylor as its chief digital information officer.

LABOR DISPUTE

A September 16th strike is imminent, with only five out of 12 rail unions reaching tentative agreements. In July, President Biden's Advisory Board made recommendations to avert the economic impact of a nationwide railroad strike.

Negotiations between west coast ports and dockworkers are reportedly not close to a resolution. Contract talks began in May.

UK trade unions have suspended scheduled strikes following the passing of Queen Elizabeth.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

VW will sell 25% of Porsche in an IPO estimated to be worth $85B.

Samsung subsidiary Harman has acquired CAARESYS. CAARESYS provides in-vehicle cabin monitoring, including vital signs sensing, passenger localization, and child presence detection.

Mercedes-Benz is teaming up with Rivian to build commercial electric vans at an existing Mercedes-Benz plant in Central or Eastern Europe. Production would start "in a few years."

Nissan is acquiring Vehicle Energy Japan, a lithium-ion battery maker.

OPENING

Construction on GM & LG's new 2.8Msf Ultium Cells plant in Lansing, Michigan, began this week. It will be the company's third facility, joining their plants in Ohio and Tennessee.

BYD plans to have its EV plant in Thailand operational in 2024 with a 150k annual capacity.

Contract car maker Magna Steyr is reportedly looking to open a plant in the US. The company builds vehicles for automakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Jaguar.

PRODUCTION DECREASE

Honda is cutting production by 40% at its Saitama and Suzuka assembly plants due to Covid outbreaks and semiconductor shortages.

PRODUCTION INCREASE

Tesla increased production at its Shanghai plant despite supplier shutdowns and Covid-19 lockdowns in August.

Mexican auto production rose by 31.36% in August compared to August last year. Exports also increased by 16.93% compared to a year earlier.

REGULATION

NHTSA released its first update to its automotive cybersecurity guidelines in five years this week.

SUPPLY CHAIN

GM is looking for EV battery raw material suppliers in Quebec to supply its upcoming EV battery plant there. The plant, a JV with Poscoe, is planned to start production in 2024.

Some experts say that Tesla is halfway to halving its battery costs by using a new process to dry-coat electrodes. The experts added that the current difficulty lies with scaling up the manufacturing process.

Continued delays in west coast ports have sparked east coast ports to partner with western bound railcars.