Elm Analytics - Automotive Supply Chain Risk Digest #301 - November 11 - 17, 2022

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

Jaguar Land Rover CEO Thierry Bollore has resigned from his position for personal reasons. JLR has named Adrian Mardell as interim CEO.

CLOSING

Michigan supplier Pace Industries is closing two plants in Muskegon and laying off 244 employees due to financial trouble. A company spokesperson said that the closures are a function of "current market dynamics."

Adient shut down its plant in Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada, without prior warning this week, putting over 200 people out of work. The company is moving production to Michigan to make operations more efficient.

EXPANDING

BMW's Chinese JV Brilliance will invest $1.4B to expand its battery assembly plants in Shenyang, China.

Continental has completed its electronic components plant's 75k sq ft expansion in Timisoara, Romania. The company is currently in the design phase of expanding its plant in nearby Sibiu.

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

Ford CEO Jim Farley said this week that the automaker wants to build as many of its own EV parts as possible to retain its workforce and offset an expected 40% reduction in workers needed to make EVs.

A new article from Consumer Reports suggests that EVs are less reliable than traditional ICE vehicles due to the latest technology involved. Jake Fisher, the senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, says, "By having all this new technology, there's a lot of potential problems with them."

The EV trade group, The Electric Drive Transportation Association, reported this week that EVs were up 41% this year. In Q2 of this year, EVs were a record 7% of new car sales.

LABOR DISPUTE

Three rail unions have voted to reject agreements that may push the US into a freight rail shutdown on December 4.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

Stellantis announced this week that it would buy Hungary-based AI and autonomous driving software developer aiMotive.

Toyota is joining forces with seven other Japanese companies - Sony, NEC, Denso, NTT, Kioxia, SoftBank, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group - in working with the Japanese government to set up a next-gen semiconductor maker called Rapidus. Rapidus will work on R&D for 2nm semiconductors to mass-produce them in Japan and collaborate with US companies.

OPENING

Norway's FREYR will build a 34 GWh battery factory in Coweta County, Georgia. The state has active projects from SK Innovation, Hyundai / Kia, and Rivian.

EV maker Canoo will build a 630k sq ft assembly plant in Oklahoma City with an initial capacity of 20k units by the end of 2023.

This week, Foxconn and PTT (a Thai energy company) broke ground on a new EV plant in Chonburi, Thailand. The joint venture Horizon Plus will launch in 2024 with a 50k vehicle annual capacity. The business model matches Foxconn's venture with Lordstown Motors in Ohio.

Toyo will open its first European tire plant in December. The 5M tire per year facility in Indija City, Serbia, will initially supply the North American market.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions is building an ADAS image sensor processing facility in Thailand. Lower production costs and the resiliency of globally distributed plants drove the decision.

EV battery maker Inobat signed a declaration of intent to build a 32 GWh gigafactory in Serbia. In October, the company did the same with the Spanish government.

Dayco will build a new belt production plant, its second in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

The delays in the shift to VW's next-gen EV platform and software have the company reportedly questioning plans for a new high-tech EV plant.

PRODUCTION INCREASE

Ford began production of its Ranger pickup at its Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria, South Africa. It was recently expanded to produce 200k trucks a year.

RECALLS

Stellantis recalled 280k Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks equipped with a Cummins 6.7L turbo diesel engine from 2020-2023 due to a fire risk. Excess pressure and heat can accumulate in the transmission and cause a leak.

RISK ANALYTICS

Foley & Lardner: OESA 2022 Automotive Conference - Outlook Panel Provides Tips for Navigating a Tumultuous Automotive Landscape