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An automotive chip manufacturing plant in Japan owned by Renesas caught fire last Friday. The fire was contained and put out without any injury but it did damage equipment in one of their clean rooms. The damage is expected to be very difficult to clean and is crucial to chip production. Renesas said it will do it best to get this facility back up and running in a month. Groups across Japan, like The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, are rallying to help support the effort as the already struggling auto industry is also very important to the Japanese economy and further delays in chip production could have massive global ramifications.
The chip shortage seems to be affecting more automotive plants on a daily basis right now. The latest being Ford idling their F-150 production in Michigan today through Sunday. This was a bit unexpected with the F-150 being one of Ford’s most profitable vehicles and really shows the state of auto production currently. Ford is also cutting output of their Transit van from the Kansas City plant. GM announced that their Wentzville, Mo plant will be idle for the next 2 weeks. This plant makes their GM’s full size vans and Colorado and Canyon trucks. Gm is also extending down time at the Lansing Mi plant that has been idle since March 15th due to supply chain issues.
GM is building some of their 2021 light duty trucks without fuel management modules. This will reportedly affect their fuel economy by one mile per gallon. GM, Ford and Stellantis are all building specific models without the parts they are having trouble getting and holding them at the production plants to await the necessary pieces for completion.
Auto Forecast Solutions report shows that total vehicles not produced this year because of shutdowns and plant throttling is over 1.1 million with over 1.9 million projected to be affected.
The Supreme Court ruled against Ford in a unanimous 8-0 decision to limit where product liability suits could be filed. This is following lawsuits in Montana and Minnesota over accidents in Ford vehicles. Ford argued that the courts in Montana and Minnesota lacked the jurisdictions for the lawsuits because the vehicle was designed in Michigan, produced in Kentucky, and sold in Washington state. This was not the way the Supreme Court saw this matter and this ruling will make it easier for consumers who have been injured by products to sue the manufacturers of those products.
Last day to order fleet Ford Transits was this wednesday. Ford has not announced when 2022 order banks will open up and we expect there to be a longer than average delay between model years. We recommend to our partners to make sure you maintain the vehicles that you currently have and start coming up with a plan now for your fleet needs moving forward. With an expected back log of vehicles going into the order banks within the first few days of them opening, we think that it is logical that the available production slots will be filled up quickly and those that do not plan ahead and order early may be waiting for 2023 model year before they are able to get a new vehicle.
Democrats are pushing President Biden to endorse banning gas-powered vehicles after 2035 as California is planning to do. Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s Transportation Secretary, stated in a U.S. House hearing “I’ve not heard of that in a mandatory context but that certainly seems to be where the U.S. auto industry is headed.” The auto industry is expected to invest $250 billion into the electrification of vehicles by 2023.
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