North American Economic Outlook – July 2021

Yosyf Sheremeta, PhD, Director of Product Management and Customer Experience, analyzes the North American economic outlook by industry segment.

Transcript

Welcome to the PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 Joe Delmont

From Power Systems Research, I’m Joe Delmont, editor of PSR PowerTALK.

Today, we’ll talk with Yosyf Sheremeta about the economic outlook for North America. Yosyf is Director of Product Management and Customer Experience for Power Systems Research.

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Edge Computing Makes America More Efficient

John Krzesicki talks with Carrie Goetz about the trends in edge computing, a movement that shifts data processing from the cloud to local data centers closer to the applications.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast, produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 John Krzesicki

Hello, my name is John Krzesicki with Power Systems Research. I’m a business development manager for the US and with me today I have Carrie Goetz who is a fractional CTO for multiple companies. She’s been in the business for many years. She was also voted as being one of the most influential women in the tech industry in 2020.

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Edge Computing in Smart Cities and Communities

In part 2 of his “Living on the Edge” series, John Krzesicki continues his discussion about edge computing with Carrie Goetz. In this podcast they delve deeper into smart cities/communities.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.

00:05 John Krzesicki

My name is John Krzesicki.

Today it’s my pleasure to host this Power Systems’ “Living on the Edge” series smart city discussion. The show where we have conversations with industry experts on their insights into the mobility’s future and impact on cities and industries.

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Ford, Argo AI, and Walmart Plan Autonomous Vehicle Delivery Service in Three U.S. Cities

John Krzesicki
John-Krzesicki

The way we deliver products from point A to point B is changing. This transformation is creating new partnerships, with implications affecting more than just the transportation industry.

Our team at Power Systems Research provides market intelligence to companies working in and around transportation and mobility functions.

Ford Motor Company, Argo AI, and Walmart are working together to launch an autonomous vehicle delivery service in Miami, Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C. — Walmart’s first multi-city autonomous delivery collaboration in the U.S. The last-mile delivery service will use Ford self-driving test vehicles equipped with the Argo AI Self-Driving System to deliver Walmart orders.

The collaboration brings together a self-driving technology provider with an automotive manufacturer able to integrate that technology with vehicles at scale, plus the world’s largest retailer.

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Volvo To Produce Trucks in China in 2022

Jack Hao
Jack Hao

Volvo Trucks expects to start production of the new heavy-duty Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX trucks in Taiyuan for local customers in China late next year.  Volvo Trucks has agreed to acquire a subsidiary of China’s Jiangling Motors Co to produce trucks for the local market starting late next year. JMC Heavy Duty Vehicle Co, which includes a manufacturing site in Taiyuan, capital of North China’s Shanxi province, will be purchased for $120.4 million (780 million yuan), said the Swedish truck maker.

Source:  China Daily     Read The Article

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Power Systems Research Q3 2021 TPI Slides 10.7%

The Q3 2021 Power Systems Research Truck Production Index (PSR-TPI) declined 10.7% in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2021, from Q2 2021. At the same time, the index dropped 17% on a YoY basis.

Except for China, all regions are expected to experience solid commercial vehicle demand growth this year and into 2022.  Chinese heavy truck demand is expected to decline this year primarily due to the implementation of the China VI emission regulations that adds cost to the vehicles but no significant improvement in fuel economy.

The PSR-TPI measures truck production globally and across six regions: North America, China, Europe, South America, Japan & Korea and Emerging Markets.

This data comes from OE Link™, the proprietary database maintained by Power Systems Research.

Global Index. Overall, medium, and heavy truck demand will finish the year on a strong note and continued strength is expected into 2022.  On-going supply chain disruptions will continue to impact production throughout the rest of the year and well into 2022.

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Global: Recovery Is Strong, but Uneven

GLOBAL REPORT
Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

SUMMARY.  The global economy performed very well in 2021 and continues to recover, along with trade, employment and incomes. But the revival is unbalanced, with regions/countries, businesses and people facing very different economic realities. Recent improvements also conceal structural changes, which means that some sectors, jobs, and technologies will not return to their pre-pandemic trends. Based on the most recent economic developments and trends, Power Systems Research remains somewhat optimistic about the global recovery.

Many of us hoped to be in the post-Covid phase by now, but it is evident that there is no quick way out.  The pandemic has had a profound impact on the world economy, and it will continue to challenge established norms of life and business into the foreseeable future.  As we start the new year, many challenges remain, new and old alike: re-surgency of COVID variants, restrictions on travel, supply chain challenges, shortages of materials/goods, inflation, and employment, as well as renewed geopolitical tensions across many parts of the globe.

Power Systems Research witnessed a strong economic recovery globally in 2021, despite regional differences.  Output in most OECD countries has now either surpassed or is about to reach pre-pandemic levels, but lower-income economies, particularly those where vaccination rates are low, are at risk of being left behind.  Furthermore, the rebound will continue to vary widely among different market segments.  

Global inflation re-surfaced in 2021 and presents a real risk to economic recovery in all regions. The renewed inflationary pressure risks lasting longer than was expected a few months ago.  The surge in retail and wholesale energy costs in late 2021 will undermine economic growth prospects for large parts of Europe and Northeast Asia well into 2022.  Rising food and energy prices already have impact on low-income households in particular. 

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Penetration Rate of Intelligent EVs in China in 2030 May Exceed 90%

CHINA REPORT
Jack Hao
Jack Hao

“China has the largest automobile production in the world, the most complete industrial foundation, supply chain foundation, talent foundation and market foundation,” said Li Bin, chairman of Weilai automobile.

These factors provide China with a significant advantage in developing intelligent EVs, he said “In fact, if we can have the advantages of these four aspects at the same time, China is the only one in the world,” he added.

The penetration rate of new energy has exceeded 10% in 2021. From the trend, this target will exceed 20% in 2025. China’s penetration rate of intelligent electric vehicles in 2030 will exceed 90% in new car sales. In recent years, with the accelerated popularization of intelligent electric vehicles, the automotive industry will once again become the commanding height of scientific and technological innovation.

Source:  Beijing News     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Today, new bus procurement is fully electrified. Buses have fixed routes, and the operation range is relatively stable. At the end of 2020, all buses in key regions and major cities have been replaced with new energy. The trend of bus electrification will continue to be promoted nationwide and gradually electric buses will replace diesel vehicles.

Considering that the running distance and working environment are relatively controllable, the market promotion of oil and electricity price difference, and the gradual completion of bus electrification, taxis will also accelerate electrification.

The second step is to accelerate the electrification of trucks such as urban logistics, environmental sanitation and muck trucks. The State Council proposes to promote green and low-carbon means of transportation, port and airport services, urban logistics distribution and postal express to give priority to the use of new energy or clean energy and strengthen the charging and switching facilities of new energy vehicles.

The penetration rate of private car electrification will also continue to increase. According to the current situation, electric vehicles can replace unified fuel vehicles in terms of price and mileage around 2025. At the same time, with the promotion of electrification in the field of public transport and trucks, driving the continuous improvement of infrastructure, the electrification of private cars will proceed more smoothly.  PSR

Jack Hao is Senior Research Manager – China, for Power Systems Research

North America Economy Faces Multiple Problems

Jim Downey
Jim Downey

SUMMARY. The United States economy is facing several serious problems that don’t have simple solutions and are not likely to be solved for several years, reaching out to the presidential elections in 2024.

Take your pick of problems: Inflation. Stock Market. Climate Changes. Interest Rates. Housing Prices. Gasoline Prices. Food Prices. Social Unrest. Political Conflicts. Worker shortages. Supply Chain Shortages. Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

The bottom line here is that consumers, investors, businesses, and governments are uncertain about what the future holds for the next several years, and this uncertainty makes it difficult to build multiple-year action plans, whether it’s for purchases, manufacturing, marketing, or investing.

Uncertainty makes people nervous, and Uncertainty is the name of the game in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.

However, we’re still optimistic about the U.S. economy and we see 2022 production growing by 11.6% but that activity is likely to fall to 2.7% next year and drop again to 1.5% in 2024.

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CNG Vehicles Are Moving in Cruise Mode

INDIA REPORT 
Aditya Kondejkar

Sales of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) vehicles in India are set to scale a new peak, driven by robust double-digit expansion in 2023 demand, with lower total ownership costs decidedly tilting the scales in favor of gas-powered cars instead of those running on liquid automotive fuels.

“We are seeing excellent traction for CNG vehicles,” says Tarun Garg, Director – Sales, Services and Marketing, Hyundai Motor India. “CNG provides a very good option to customers in terms of reduced total cost of ownership. Not only is the price of CNG fuel less than petrol/diesel, the fuel efficiency, too, is relatively better and emissions are lower.”

Currently, the country has more than 4,500 operational CNG stations, compared with fewer than 1,000 in 2014. To push adoption of CNG vehicles in the personal mobility space, in 2019, the petroleum and natural gas ministry announced plans to set up more than 10,000 CNG stations over the decade. It is anticipated that the country will save approximately  Rs 2 lakh crore in oil imports if personal car users switched to CNG vehicles. Read The Article

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