Following two years of market disruption, automotive manufacturers and suppliers are eager for positive news. Indeed, some regions and vertical segments are mitigating risks and addressing shortages with agile shifts and creative strategies. They provide pragmatic best practice models and inspiration for the organizations still struggling with heavy revenue losses from the microchip shortage.
he IHS Markit light vehicle production forecast has been cut by 6.2% or 5.02 million units in 2021, and by 9.3% or 8.45 million units in 2022, to stand at 75.8 million units and 82.6 million units, respectively. For 2023, we have reduced the forecast by 1.05 million units or 1.1% to 92 million units; this is a frontloaded adjustment and from the second quarter output levels are expected to be able to accelerate as supply chains return to normal.
‘UK Auto’ factories produced 138,059 engines in September 2021, a decline of 36.3% year on year.
Output for both domestic and export markets fell 42% to 49,013 and 32.6% to 89,046 respectively.
Year to date, engine manufacturing fell 2.8% to 1,278,117 units compared to 2020 and remained 33.9% below the five year average.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “During September the number of engines produced declined by over a third, continuing this worrying trend for the fourth consecutive month.
The transition to electric mobility has started impacting the employment structure in the automotive industry as a slew of OEMs and component suppliers have announced planned cuts to their employment numbers due to the shift to electrification. European OEMs are the most proactive on this front. Outside Europe an almost equally gloomy picture is painted.
The most desirable new vehicles are selling before they even hit dealerships. Used-car prices are through the sunroof. And automakers worldwide are idling plants and cutting capacity as they wait for more desperately needed chips to be delivered.
While the early effects of the COVID-19 crisis presented a dip in the road, car sales and production are roaring back. Trends that have been long in coming point to significant changes ahead.
The automotive supply chain is not enough vaccines or green certificates to overcome the pandemic. The appeal launched by the supply chain is an alarm message, there is still no trace of a real recovery. The main problem lies in the componentry crisis that the sector is going through. Finding the parts to produce vehicles is becoming complicated for car manufacturers, especially microchips. Semiconductors are having a hard time, delivery times are getting longer, costs are rising, and sales are plummeting.
For a year and a half, a lack of computer chips has been plaguing the auto industry, forcing plants to shut down, delaying auto shipments and sending car prices through the roof. But that's not the only problem automakers face.
Brussels, 15 October 2021 – In September 2021, demand for new passenger cars in the EU shrank by 23.1% to 718,598 units, marking the lowest number of registrations for a month of September since 1995.
