Welcome to today's edition of the Daily 5.
As if suppliers and automakers need more reasons for their relationships to get worse, here's another emerging tension point that could prompt litigation: insourcing.
The disappointing rollout of electric vehicles in the U.S., coupled with an incoming presidential administration that openly opposes EV mandates, could create an incentive for automakers to bring EV-related work in-house — much to the chagrin of suppliers that were expecting the business.
Recent court cases involving Ford Motor Co. and Rivian Automotive Inc. were at least partially created by the automaker bringing EV work in-house, according to Kurt Nagl of Automotive News affiliate Crain's Detroit Business in this story today. As we've reported, the Rivian litigation with Bosch is particularly bitter.
But the bottom line is the bottom line. If EV volumes are going to come down below previous forecasts, it might make sense for an automaker to produce various parts, components and technologies in-house. The question then would be how a supplier can be fairly compensated? These compromises will usually be negotiated behind closed doors, but if not, an aggrieved supplier might take their customer to court.
Speaking of suppliers, Bosch joined the ranks of major job cutters today with news of 5,500 job cuts in Germany. According to Reuters, the world's largest auto supplier flagged weak demand in intelligent driver-assistance systems and solutions for automated driving. Bosch's German union promised to fight the cuts.
Back to EVs, while it's pretty clear the incoming Trump administration will move to eliminate EV tax credits, the auto industry's top advocacy group is still lobbying hard to save the credits. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, in a Nov. 12 letter to President-elect Donald Trump, said automakers face unfair competition "from heavily subsidized electric vehicles and technologies exported from China," Reuters reported.
The letter also asked for more help dealing with "federal and state emissions regulations (particularly in California and affiliated states) that are out-of-step with current auto market realities and increase costs for consumers."
Meanwhile, Hyundai's next global CEO Jose Muñoz gave Automotive News a wide-ranging interview Nov. 21 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Among the things he told us was that the CDK cyberattacks last summer caused a delay in the highly anticipated launch of the Hyundai-Amazon online retail program. The cyberattacks disrupted operations at roughly half of the nation's auto dealerships.
Muñoz said the Amazon program should be ready to go in January after working out a lot of bugs and kinks during 2024. Of Hyundai's 841-dealership network in the U.S., 80 percent expressed interest in joining the program.
"It takes a lot of work to connect every single dealer, but we are nearly there," he said. "It's been a very long process — tedious in terms of activity, especially because of these events — but we just kept going, and now we are close."
Looking ahead to Saturday, we'll have the next installment of our dealership Best Practices feature.
Then on Sunday, we'll be announcing the 2024 Automotive News All-Stars. This award recognizes leaders making a significant impact on their companies and the industry at large. Click here for the previous winners.
That's it for today. Have a great weekend.
If you want to view this story in your browser, click here.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
No comments:
Post a Comment