Wall Street Journal (August 26)
“Workers at the Detroit automakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure that authorizes the United Auto Workers leadership to call for a strike as talks between the union and companies continue…. The negotiations are among a wave of protracted labor talks this year that have vexed companies and at times threatened to spill over into work stoppages. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters recently reached a five-year contract agreement with United Parcel Service, dodging a potential standoff that could have rippled across the U.S. supply chain.”
Tags: Automakers, Contract, Detroit, Labor, Negotiations, Protracted, Strike, Teamsters, UAW, Union, UPS, Voted, Work stoppages, Workers
Bloomberg (February 4)
“Fears that the coronavirus will ravage global supply chains rooted in China are spreading fast.” For some industries this could be a blessing. “A hiatus from production in the world’s largest car market may force” automakers “to take some needed rebalancing.” Overcapacity and production are running rife. “China’s factories have the capacity to make over 60 million vehicles a year. Only a third of that number are sold. Yet carmakers seem unable to, well, stop making cars.”
Tags: Automakers, Cars, China, Coronavirus, Fears, Overcapacity, Production, Ravage, Supply chains
Bloomberg (July 27)
With over 300 million vehicles, China’s fleet is the world’s largest and the impact will be increasingly felt worldwide. “Secondhand car exports are starting modestly and the country will take time to catch up to more established players.” Still, it’s clear that “China will have more used cars to sell than anybody and its export business will inevitably grow into the world’s biggest.” This will place pressure on new vehicle sales as well. “Global automakers might want to strap on their seatbelts.”
Tags: Automakers, Car, China, Exports, Fleet, New, Pressure, Secondhand, Used, Vehicles, World's biggest
CNN (July 2)
“Every US-made car is an import,” which means US automakers could get stung bad by tariffs. According to a measure used by regulators, “the two most ‘American’ cars are both Hondas—the Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup,” each of which boast about 75% of components made in the US or Canada. “The Honda Civic, Acura MDX, Acura TLX and the Mercedes C-class source 70% from the United States and Canada. The highest-ranked car made by a Detroit automaker is the Chevrolet Corvette, which placed seventh” at about 65%. GM has already warned that “tariffs could force the company to cut jobs at US plants due to an expected drop in sales associated with higher prices.”
Wall Street Journal (January 7)
“Does Donald Trump understand business?” He might know real estate and branding, “but the President-elect’s Twitter assaults on auto companies make us wonder if he understands cross-border supply chains, relative business costs, regulatory mandates, or anything else about building and selling modern cars and trucks.”
Tags: Automakers, Branding, Business, Cars, Costs, Cross-border supply chains, Real estate, Regulatory mandates, Trucks, Trump, Twitter
Institutional Investor (April 10)
“Despite a turbulent few years…. the auto industry retains its role as a bellwether of the global economy. Thus, recent findings that environmental factors are increasingly shaping the future prospects for many automakers will have profound implications for investors.” Increasingly those car makers taking “climate factors the most seriously are the best set for future growth.” Investors should take note that “policy responses to climate change are driving technological disruption that will have serious investment implications across many sectors.”
Tags: Automakers, Bellwether, Climate change, Disruption, Economy, Environmental factors, Future prospects, Growth, Investors, Turbulent
Bloomberg (December 22)
Rather than a battle to the death between “lumbering” automakers and disruptive Silicon Valley, the deal between Google and Ford proves “that Detroit and Silicon Valley are increasingly likely to collaborate rather than compete” to realize autonomous vehicles. Ford’s decision to collaborate “may accelerate the decline of the traditional industry, but by taking an early seat at the table right next to Google, the firm has secured a position of relevance in the new mobility paradigm.”
Tags: Automakers, Autonomous vehicles, Collaborate, Compete, Detroit, Disruptive, Ford, Google, Lumbering, New mobility paradigm, Relevance, Silicon Valley
Bloomberg (August 25)
Despite China’s promising long-term fundamentals, global automakers are facing “an oversupply time bomb” as China’s economy cools. Already, some import car dealers are holding nearly 150 days of supply. “If cutthroat competition for volume sales persists, exacerbated by weakness in the other once-promising BRICS markets, automakers could be headed toward a massive pileup in China.”
Tags: Automakers, BRICS, China, Competition, Economy, Fundamentals, Oversupply, Supply
New York Times (August 9)
“It’s important that regulators develop security rules for cars, which are becoming computers on wheels.” In the U.S., the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration should “start writing basic security standards that require automakers to test the software and make sure a car’s wireless system cannot be used to control the engine and brakes. The agency’s regulations on airbags, seatbelts and crash testing have helped save countless lives. New rules for software that operate cars could prove just as important.”
Tags: Airbags, Automakers, Cars, NHTSA, Regulators, Seatbelts, Security, Software, U.S., Wireless
Chicago Tribune (February 18, 2014)
“Automakers have outfitted their vehicles with cutting-edge technology that goes way beyond the now-common mapping and music options. New cars these days act like smartphones on wheels.” While some new features improve safety, others create dangerous distraction. “Like so much of the digital world, car-borne technology is changing fast. Government watchdogs and corporate innovators should work together to accelerate progress, while keeping motorists safe.”
Tags: Automakers, Cars, Digital, Distraction, Government, Mapping, Motorists, Music, Progress, Safety, Smartphones, Technology, Vehicles, Watchdogs