Power Systems Research (PSR) is an international research company based in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. It operates a second North America office in Detroit, Mich., and has offices in five other countries. PSR analysts have been collecting and analyzing global engine and powertrain data and information since 1976, and we use this data to develop targeted forecasts by industry segment and region.
Our team of experienced analysts works with OEMs, engine and component manufacturers, dealers, fleet managers and industry experts to compile detailed and focused data that has become an industry standard. It’s the leading source of global information on engines and power equipment powered by IC and alternate sources. Whether you need detailed global data, forecasts or customized local market studies, we can provide you with Data, Forecasting and Solutions. Let’s start today.
Harley-Davidson said US sales were up 6.6% in the quarter before the pandemic ground the economy to a halt in mid-March. But sales wound up plunging 15.5% in America compared to a year ago and 20.7% internationally. Overall revenue slipped 8% from last year’s first quarter.
For the quarter, Harley-Davidson posted earnings of $69.7 million compared with $127.9 million in the same period a year ago.
Michael Aistrup
Harley-Davidson’s share in the U.S. heavyweight motorcycle market share was down 2.2 percentage points, to 48.9% and the company’s share of the heavyweight motorcycle market in Europe was 7.6% in the first quarter.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Harley has reduced planned capital spending, frozen hiring, temporarily reduced salaries, eliminated merit increases for employees in 2020 and changed the timing of new product launches in order to preserve $250 million in 2020.
The word “hybrid” in the power generation universe has generally been understood to mean a fossil-fuel engine supplemented by another power source, usually a renewable.
Tyler Wiegert
Then, the word grew to include vehicles and equipment that ran primarily on battery power but could be switched to a smaller engine that would recharge the battery while it ran.
Now, we are entering a time when “hybrid” includes drive systems that are primarily renewable-based and supplemented by an additional renewable system.
In this sphere, alternative power has primarily meant batteries and hydrogen fuel cells; one of the major impediments to wide adoption has always been range.
R&D World magazine recently examined the global market for lithium-ion batteries and concluded that there could very well be a shortage in the next decade. They projected that recent investments will ensure supply keeps ahead of demand for at least the next two years, but that the demand for lithium in 2030 will be 2.3x higher than the global output in 2019, and investments may not be happening at the pace needed to meet it.
Tyler Wiegert
The main bottleneck is that it takes 5-10 years to bring a new lithium or cobalt mine online, but their low prices right now remove some of the incentive to make those investments.
In the absence or shortage of those investments, control of current resources will play a critical role in the production costs of lithium-powered equipment, including on-highway vehicles. In this area, as in many others, Tesla appears to be a leader. The electric car maker has made a number of moves recently to pursue vertical integration, including, most recently, signing a supply deal with Hanwha for battery production equipment. But they are also making moves to secure ownership of the raw materials needed for battery production.
This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.
The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), a coalition of outdoor recreation trade associations and organizations, has published on their web site (www.recreationalroundtable .org) a guide for their members on the Outdoor Recreation Industry and the Coronavirus. Included on the site are Federal, State and Industry Resources, ORR’s letter to the President, Governors and Federal Government on the impact and recommendations to the Coronavirus crisis.
The site also has suggestions on what small businesses and policy makers can do to support efforts to combat the virus. The link for the informational site at ORR is: https://recreationroundtable.org/coronavirus/
PSR can support members of many of these organizations with focused and accurate forecasts of global diesel and gas engine production. PSR
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, MN–Students at St. Thomas Academy High School in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, are using 3D printers in their Innovation Center to produce face shields for first responders and medical personnel who are battling the coronavirus.
The school has garnered some national exposure for the manufacturing work it has done with its 3D printers, including time on an ABC News broadcast and a nice article in the St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press newspaper.
Power Systems Research is a co-founder of the Innovation Center that’s part of the company’s effort to support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs at local high schools.
ST. PAUL, MN–A team of international analysts from Power Systems Research (PSR) analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on the global production of Off-Highway Equipment and MH-Duty Vehicles in several regions today.
The team examined the impact of the coronavirus in North America, Europe, Asia, India, and South America for the remainder of 2020 and into Q1 2021. Download your copy of the presentation here.
Download our special report CORONAVIRUS, Impact on the global production for engines and powered equipment. Available April 15, 2020.
Joe Zirnhelt
Over the first quarter of 2020 the concern over the coronavirus has grown each week. Since first hearing the news out of China and the virus’ spread to South Korea, we have been able to observe the effects on supply chains and production.
Time is of the essence
Although news and concern increased since that time, the week of March 10 and the classification of the coronavirus as a pandemic by the World Health Organization dramatically shifted many measures into action across the globe.
In late March, about halfway through the United States’ first round of social distancing, Generac CEO Aaron Jagdfeld spoke with Yahoo Finance’s Seana Smith about whether Generac was seeing a spike in demand from COVID-19.
Tyler Wiegert
Smith noted that the power generation segment tends to do better during and after a natural disaster, and wanted to know the answer to a question that has also been on our minds at Power Systems Research: “Is COVID-19 a Natural Disaster?”
Like many of the other questions surrounding COVID-19, like “Is the United States heading into a recession?” or “How do we distribute scarce medical resources?” the answer isn’t clear cut.
Additionally, hotels and other buildings are being converted into temporary hospitals as states prepare for their regular ICUs to reach capacity. He states that those buildings might not have typically had back-up power, but now need to be quickly outfitted to meet regulations for critical care centers.
Recently I was at a dinner with visiting members of my family discussing the noble transition that many manufacturers are making from producing their typical goods to producing essential goods and equipment for the coronavirus fight.
Tyler Wiegert
One that came up was Tesla’s transition to making ventilators, and one member of my family began to say that they wouldn’t want a Tesla ventilator if they were hospitalized, because it would probably catch fire and explode.
My fiance is in medicine rather than in our industry, so she took that to be a serious comment about the risk of ventilators sparking in an oxygen-rich environment. But it quickly became clear that this critic just has a deep and abiding skepticism of battery technology, because they repeatedly brought the conversation back to battery fires and cars exploding, despite there having been only 14 reported cases of Tesla vehicles catching fire between 2013 and 2019, with most of those happening after accidents.
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