News: Passenger Cars, Minivans, and SUVs

2021-08-22

Honda Staff Seek Early Retirement Amid EV Shift

Over 2,000 employees at Honda Motor have applied for early retirement, as the Japanese automaker restructures its workforce to gear up to make more electric vehicles.

Honda’s move is the latest in the trend among automakers to move away from the production and sales of internal combustion engines. Those employees account for around 5% of Honda’s full-time staff in Japan. Although Honda had not set a target, the number of applications has far exceeded its initial estimate of 1,000.

Read More»

2021-08-21

Understanding the Global Chip Shortage

Erik Martin
Erik Martin

Semiconductors help power everything from your phone to your car. Here’s what to know about the major supply chain problem.

There are chips in nearly everything electric you own, from your phone to your computer to your car. There are even chips in items you wouldn’t expect, such as your washing machine, electric toothbrush, and refrigerator. But these tiny parts that power so much of our lives are now in critically short supply.

“Right now we have a global supply chain in crisis,” says Patrick Penfield, a professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University. “We’ve just never ever seen anything of this magnitude impact us before.”

Read More»

Toyota Suspends Production in Sorocaba, Brazil

Toyota is one of the OEMs least affected by the semiconductor crisis, but it now says production will be suspended for 10 days at its Sorocaba plant. The announcement does not refer specifically to semiconductors and other components and materials may be affecting the production capacity.

Source: Valor     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: The shortage of materials and price escalation is affecting all OEMs and suppliers in the automotive supply chain, from basic steel grades to semiconductors. Price escalation goes up to 120% in local currency and OEMs are struggling to keep the lines running and maintain competitiveness. This time, even Toyota, known as the best planner and most stable OEM over here had to push the brakes and take a breath to return production in a better ordered way.    PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development South America, for Power Systems Research

2021-07-27

Russia To Suspend Support of Domestic Auto Industry

The Russian auto market’s increased demand for new passenger cars has caused inventory shortages, and these shortages have caused Russian authorities to suspend State programs of industry support.

In May, for example, the number of the cars sold increased by 2.3 times, compared to same period in 2020. This growth is partly the result of pandemic restrictions last year. A total of 663,000 new cars have been delivered to the customers this year, up 39% from a year ago.

Another reason for the shortage of cars in Russia is a shortage of semiconductor chips.

Read More»

Second FAME II Incentives May Spur EV Demand

Aditya Kondejkar

The amendments to the FAME-II electric vehicle policy were rolled out in the last month and manufacturers have lauded the efforts in adopting EV mobility in the country.

Source: Financial Express. Read The Article  

The government partially modified the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II. Further, it has included an additional demand incentive for electric two-wheelers to ₹15,000 per KWh from an earlier uniform subsidy of ₹10,000 per KWh for all EVs, including plug-in hybrids and strong hybrids except buses.

 This decision will increase subsidies for such vehicles by 50% under the FAME II scheme and be a game-changer in adopting EVs.

Read More»

South Korea’s SK and LG to Build EV Battery Plant in the U.S. Joint Venture in the Gap between U.S.-China Conflict

South Korean automotive battery giants are moving into the U.S. market, with SK Innovation teaming up with Ford and LG Chemical with GM to promote the construction of an automotive battery plant. SK plans to invest about 300 billion yen in the plant to produce 22 gigawatt-hours of automotive batteries, enough to power 220,000 EVs a year, and in a joint venture with Ford, the two companies will invest 600 billion yen to build a giant 60-gigawatt plant.

SK’s annual production capacity as of 2019 is only 5 gigabytes at its Korean plant. The capacity is expected to increase to 30 gigawatts in 2020 with the launch of plants in China and Hungary, to 85 gigawatts in 2023 with the addition of the US plant, and to exceed 185 gigawatts in 2025 with the addition of the joint venture with Ford. SK, a late entrant to the market, ranks sixth with a 5% share of the global market in 2020.

Read More»

ENGIE EPS Acquisition May Create Euro-Asian Powerhouse

Erik Martin
Erik Martin

TAIPEI–The acquisition of a 60.5% stake in ENGIE EPS by Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) was finalized and completed in July.

The deal, which was announced in April, saw the Italy-headquartered stationary storage and e-mobility solutions subsidiary of French multinational Engie taken over by TCC subsidiary Taiwan Cement Europe Holdings.

What both parties get out of the deal

In a press release, TCC said it has now become a “major player” in electric vehicle charging infrastructure as well as its newly acquired capabilities in building large-scale battery storage systems and microgrids.

Read More»

Strong Post-pandemic Growth Expected into 2022-23 for North America

Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

SUMMARY.  After the GDP declined 3.5% last year, the worst performance in almost 75 years, the US economy is set for a strong comeback.  There are many reasons to be optimistic about the economy for the next few years, including strong readings of macro-economic factors combined with the economic cycle reset backed by government initiatives and policies.

Our positive outlook is based on the reviews of key economic indicators, including GDP, unemployment, and inflation. 

During H1 2021, we witnessed a strong level of activities and a rebound for many industries.  As local governments eased lockdown restrictions, service-oriented industries gained traction and that translated to an overall increase of economic activities across many industries. 

We expect this level of rebound to continue and we now expect even stronger overall growth for 2021.  The US economy is on track to reach or even surpass the growth level of 1984 – the highest one since 1950s.  In the near term, consumer spending will help drive demand and support the strong growth trend.

Read More»

2021-06-27

Renwex-2021 Fair Demonstrates Little Interest in EV Cars

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

MOSCOW–Despite the number of COVID-infected people in Moscow increasing since the middle of June, the trade shows have not been affected by the pandemic restrictions. Another fair started 21 June in Moscow Expocenter. It’s Renwex – the fair dedicated to renewable energy and electric transport.

The fair is relatively new and small. It took about 3000 sq. meters and accommodated 80 participants. Most of them were local companies, although there were some participants from Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany and China.

Read More»

GWM Opens Smart factory in Thailand, Renovates GM’s Factory

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

China’s Great Wall Motor (GWM) has announced the official opening of a plant in Thailand. The company acquired the plant from General Motors (GM) in 2020 and has been working to make it smarter by installing advanced AI-based equipment. It is the company’s first smart factory to be opened in Southeast Asia. The amount of investment for the renovation has not been disclosed, but the company has indicated that it plans to invest 22.6 billion baht (about 79 billion yen) in Thailand.

The production capacity is 80,000 units per year, and it is expected to produce HVs first. In the future, the plant will also produce EVs. The company plans to allocate 60% of the vehicles produced to the Thai domestic market and 40% for export to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and Australia.

Read More»