Recent Automotive New – More convictions for Ex UAW presidents, some good news from Ford, and more

Ford seems to be very heavily impacted by the chip shortage, with reports of over 400,000 vehicles being removed from their North American production schedules. This is more than any other manufacturer. In comparison with GM at 272,000 vehicles, you are able to see the difference.  Ford CEO Jim Farley is calling this crisis “The greatest supply shock”. With that being said, things might be starting to turn around as Auto Forecast Solutions reported that over the last 2 weeks Ford has been able to keep up production schedules. Inventory levels across the country are at all time record lows but hopefully this news might mean some relief may be coming soon. Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s President of Americas & International Markets was recently interviewed and quoted saying, “moving forward, should that entire inventory management system be different? I don’t know. That’s something we’re working with our suppliers on.” With leadership like this at Ford’s helm it is hard to foresee anything other issues arising. Keep in mind all of these folks gave themselves huge raises based on how they responded to the Covid-19 pandemic.

GM is announcing that certain 2021 light duty trucks and SUVs will be built without the auto start stop feature. This feature turns the engine off while stopped in order to conserve fuel. GM declined to state how many vehicles were going to be affected but did say it would be for the following models: Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, and Silverado 1500s, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, and 1500 Sierras, and Cadillac Escalade ESV. No discounts will be given for vehicles built with missing parts and there will be no way to tell if vehicles on order will have the option or not.

Bosch finished construction of their new $1.2B microchip factory in Germany. This was one of the fastest chip factories ever constructed. Bosch is starting producing microchips next month and automotive microchips in September. With Governments throwing huge amounts of cash at chip production, factories like this should be springing up regularly over the next few years.

Ex UAW President Gary Jones was sentenced this week to 28 months in prison for his role in stealing union funds for personal gains. While he was UAW president he spent millions of union dollars on travel, golf, and living the high life. He is the second consecutive UAW president to be convicted of fraud and theft related crimes. Last month we covered previous UAW President, Dennis Williams who was sentenced to 21 months for similar crimes. These convictions will put a stain on the United Auto Workers Union that will last decades.

Waymo, a Google affiliate, and JB Hunt announced a partnership that will be focused on self driving semi trucks. Waymo’s autonomous trucks will be hauling goods down Texas’s Interstate 45 between Houston and Fort Worth. Texas seems to be the central hub of autonomous truck testing, and I look forward to seeing how this initial route will go.