Foley Weekly Automotive Report – June 2021 – 5 | Foley & Lardner srl

This report helps automotive suppliers inform their legal and operational decisions to help them meet challenges and opportunities.

Key developments

• New light vehicle sales in the United States in June should reach a SAAR from 15.8 to 16.4 million units, estimated by JD Power and LMC Automotive, and Cox Automotive, respectively.
• Due to the shortage of chips, Stellantis lost production of 248,164 vehicles in its factories Belvidere, Illinois, Toluca, Mexico, and Windsor, Ontario, as estimated by AutoForecast Solutions LLC.
• Intelligence predicts that the chip shortage will “come back down” in the second half of this year, after which supplies will continue to improve, but a “A healthy supply-demand situation” is not expected before 2023.
• Toyota allow hourly U.S. employees and salaried employees in certain locations to work without a mask if they provide proof of vaccination and wear a “Identifier issued by the company”.
• UAW President Rory Gamble will retire on June 30, in accordance with previous statements indicating his intention to retire before the end of his four-year term. Gamble will be replaced by UAW Secretary-Treasurer Ray Curry.
• A judge temporarily restored the certification status of minority business to Piston group, while litigation continues between the supplier and the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council.
• In a letter to NHTSA, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation urged the agency to reconsider its plan to end a national pilot program at monitor the testing and development of automated vehicles.
• Autonomous driving technology company Pick up trucks go public through a reverse merger; this follows recent public offerings from autonomous truck startups More and YouSimple.
• Electric vehicles and low emission technology:
  • IHS Markit predicts that Electric vehicles will account for 11% of new light vehicle sales in the United States by 2025, while hybrids will represent 21% of the 16.7 million units planned. Hybrids accounted for 6.1% and battery electric vehicles accounted for 2.4% of new light vehicle registrations in the United States in April.
  • Ernst and Young predicted Electric vehicles will sell better fossil fuel vehicles by 2028 in Europe, by 2033 in China and by 2036 in the United States
  • Honda fully committed phase out the sale of gasoline vehicles by 2040; earlier this year, the automaker set the same target date for its sales in North America.
  • Volkswagen to the intention of end of sales internal combustion cars in Europe by 2035; an equivalent target has not been announced for the United States or China.
  • Panasonic sold its stake in You’re here for $ 3.6 billion. The companies will continue their partnership; however, everyone has recently taken steps to diversify their drum chords.

Market trends and regulation

• JD Power and LMC Automotive Project U.S. Total New Vehicle Sales to Reach 1.32 million units in June, which represents an increase of 19.5% compared to June 2020 and a decrease of 8.3% compared to June 2019, the decrease being attributed to the weak sales of the fleet. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate (CAGR) for total new vehicle sales should be 15.8 million units. The same forecast notes that US retail sales continue to experience strong demand, but “the effect of fewer vehicles in dealer inventory is finally starting to have a significant effect on aggregate industry sales volumes. Cox Automotive, in its mid-year 2021 review, predicts New light-duty vehicle sales in the United States to hit 1.38 million in June, representing a SAAR of 16.4 million units.
• President Biden and a bipartisan group of senators agreed on a potential infrastructure package worth $ 1 trillion; legislation must be passed in Congress. The package includes funding for improving roads, bridges, public transport and airports, as well as improved infrastructure for broadband vehicles, water and electric vehicles. Total investment is estimated at $ 973 billion over five years, and $ 1.2 trillion if continued over eight years.

OEM / suppliers

• Impact on production of the semiconductor shortage – Stellantis announced a hiatus for the week of July 12 at its Belvidere, Illinois Assembly Plant and Toluca assembly plant in Mexico, impacting the production of the Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Compass crossovers. The automaker will resume production at its minivan factory in Windsor, Ontario, the week of July 5.
  • Volkswagen of Mexico will gradually resume production on staggered dates starting next week for its Jetta, Taos and Tiguan models. At the end of May, the car manufacturer announced an indefinite shutdown impacting its Puebla site in June due to the shortage of chips.
  • Due to the shortage of chips, Mazda will temporarily stop production at its Hofu Factory No.1 in Japan the weeks of July 5 and July 12.
  • Chipmaker GlobalFoundries will invest $ 6 billion to increase capacity by up to 50% globally in 2021 and 2022, with some of the capacity additions financed by customer prepayments. GlobalFoundries focuses on mature chip technologies and has around a third of its production in Singapore, New York and Dresden, Germany.
• Dr Stefan Hartung will become CEO of Robert Bosch, effective January 1, 2022, succeeding Dr Volkmar Denner. Denner leaves after a decade as the company’s research-focused science advisor on quantum technology. Hartung has been with Bosch for 17 years and is currently President of Mobility Solutions.
• FordChief Technology Officer Ken Washington is leaving July 16 to become Vice President of Software Engineering at Amazon. The auto industry recently lost a number of top executives to tech companies, with former Ford CFO Tim peter departed last fall after 18 months in the role to start as CFO-CEO of AI software company ASAPP, and former CFO of GM, Dhivya Suryadevara, leaving last year to join San Francisco-based e-commerce company Stripe Inc.
• Mercedes-Benz United States inadvertently made sensitive customer information accessible on a cloud storage platform. The error did not involve malicious actions and affected nearly 1,000 customers and potential buyers.
• HDT Automotive Solutions LLC will acquire Veritas SA in a combination that will lead to a business approaching $ 1 billion in annual revenue. Based in Livonia, Michigan, HDT Automotive is a supplier of tubular components, fluid management systems and aluminum parts; Veritas is Germany’s oldest rubber manufacturer. The deal should expand HDT opportunities in hybrid and electric vehicles.

Connected / autonomous vehicles and mobility services

• Based in San Francisco Pick up trucks will go public through an agreement with special purpose acquisition company Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. II. Emark’s autonomous vehicles use an artificial intelligence-based autopilot that works with machine learning, high-resolution cameras and sensors. Of the society strategy focused on collaboration with existing carriers; he has partners who include Werner Enterprises, Bison Transport, and Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Electric vehicles and low emission technology

• Based in Troy, Michigan Last Mile Electric, Inc. began trading publicly on the Nasdaq on June 28 under the ticker ELMS. Last December, the EV startup announced its intention to go public through a deal with special-purpose acquisition company Forum Merger III Corp.
• You’re here will recall more than 285,000 vehicles sold in China for risk that its autopilot function is too easily activated, which could potentially lead to vehicle accidents. The issue was announced after an investigation by a Chinese market regulator, and it affects Models 3 and Y imported and made in China since 2019.
• the Tesla model 3 is the first EV to receive a ranking n ° 1 in the Cars.com US Manufacturing Index; the annual list ranks the new vehicles that contribute the most to the US economy in terms of jobs, factories and parts supply.
• DG and a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc will jointly develop EV and home energy charging plans in the United States, starting with GM vehicle owners in Texas. Automaker and MP2 Energy LLC to Offer GM Customers and Supply Chain Partners Energy Programs Including Fixed-Rate Home Energy Plans Backed 100% by Renewable Energy, with Recharge Option vehicle free overnight. A Dutch court recently ordered Royal Dutch Shell plc to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% (from 2019 levels) by 2030, after finding insufficient the company’s previous commitment to reduce its emissions by 20% (compared to 2016 levels) by 2030.
• Nicolas plans to invest $ 50 million in a hydrogen energy project in Indiana which consists of converting a gasification plant into a hydrogen production plant and carbon capture project. Nikola’s investment takes the form of cash and shares in Wabash Valley Resources in exchange for a 20% stake in the project; the inauguration is scheduled for early next year.

Prepared by Julie Dautermann, Competitive Intelligence Analyst

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