North America Economy Slows and Shifts
The August 2019 issue of PowerTALK News, the monthly report of world news and analysis from Power Systems Research, contains an economic outlook report for North America and a guest editorial by Mr. Kenichiro Wada, who discusses the near-term problems facing Japanese auto OEMs as they develop autonomous vehicles.
The North American economic forecast by Yosyf Sheremeta, Director of Product Management & Customer Experience. During H1 2019, he writes, the economy remained stable and pure economic conditions in the region were favorable. Most industries performed very well, and the short-term outlook remains flat to positive for most market segments. “However,” he writes, “we see many new developments that could suggest a shift in the trend.”
Here are other Top Stories in the August issue:
• Guest Editorial: Japanese Autonomous
• Data Point: US Off-Hwy Trucks
• China Has Largest EV Charging Network
• Brazil Harvester Sales Grow
• CAT Brazil Shows New Units
• Manitou Sees Slowdown
• Doosan Introduces Electric Units
• India 2-Wheel Sales Fall
• India 2-Wheel Inventories Climb
• Russian Auto Plant Begun
• Russian Machinery Sales Up 30%
• Russia, China Team Up
Across all market segments, we expect overall total OEM equipment production numbers to be flat for 2019, which is in line with our previous projection in Q4 2018 at -0.6%. We see an almost flat to slightly lower level of overall activity in 2020 at -2.0%, as the overall economy reaches its peak in productivity, and as demand levels decline going into 2020-2021.
We saw a slight drop in demand for consumer products, starting at the end of 2016-2017, but the overall level of demand remained stable in 2018. We project these markets to be flat this year. Most of the decline is cyclical and is mainly due to markets having reached their peaks in 2016-2018. At this point, over the mid-term and long-term, we do not expect any major or significant declines in any of the segments.
Read his complete report in the August issue of PowerTALK.
