Gestamp is consolidating here in the UK. It is to close two plants as well as move staff from the Cannock site to the Wolverhampton facility it opened in 2018. “We are consolidating in [the] UK to three big manufacturing plants: Newton Aycliffe (North East), Wolverhampton (West Midlands) and Llanelli (Wales) that are in operation,” a Gestamp spokesman told just-auto. “It means the smaller plants in Fareham and Washington are closing. We have also a plant in Cannock, West Midlands, from where we are moving the workforce to the greenfield site opened in 2018 in Wolverhampton.”
COVID-19 cases on the rise in the US brought further downside to the sales forecast. It had been heartening to see analysts at JP Morgan recently call the US market above 14m for 2020 based on reports of strong showroom traffic in June. Above 14m for the US market is the position that GlobalData [parent of just-auto] has held for a long time. But COVID-19 infection rates are insurgent in some of the US’s most populous and prosperous states. Just a week or two after that 14m forecast, new headwinds emerged. COVID-19 infection rates are resurgent in some of the US’s most populous and prosperous states. Such status means that those markets also command a large share of the US light vehicle market. Tighter social restrictions introduced/re-introduced just in the week since we published this analysis, and expected in coming days and weeks, suggest prospects for the US market will suddenly look much dimmer than the 14.6m GlobalData currently forecasts for the US market and potentially result in a sub-14m market. Urgh.
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With COVID-19 still rampaging (here in the UK part of the city of Leicester is back in lockdown even as a new list of restrictions is set to be lifted tomorrow [4 July] elsewhere), slow demand has hit Ford’s Craiova factory in Romania. Some 213 temporary workers will lose their jobs as the company faces weak demand. The 213 employees account for one third of the temporary workers at the plant which employs 6,300 of which 670 are temps. Some 1,800 are still under ‘technical unemployment’ or furlough. A Ford spokesman said: “Our company continually reviews employment needs based on market demand and the efficiency of the production process. Considering the current situation of the industry in which we operate, we confirm that some of the individual fixed term employment contracts at the factory in Craiova will not be extended.”
Our new and future models analyst focused on Daimler this week. “Soon to lose its CEO to Aston Martin Lagonda, Mercedes-AMG is a major money maker for Daimler AG. Under Tobias Moers, the division has shifted from being a name for fast cars into a brand in itself, stretching from high-priced accessories and trim levels for Mercedes-Benz hatchbacks to supercars, super-SUVs, and in 2021, a hypercar with a Formula 1 engine. Loads of information to enjoy.
Separately, our product guru focused earlier on Mercedes SUVs, which is also well worth a look. “Will Mercedes-Benz ever cease expanding its range of SUVs? Or rather, why would Daimler stop launching ever more plus replacement models when there seems to be seemingly limitless demand in many markets? What is changing is the fuel efficiency of such vehicles, and there is much innovation yet to come as China and Europe’s fuel consumption and emissions legislation grows ever more stringent.”
And Mercedes EQ also came under the microscope: “BMW has i and Audi has e-tron: these are reserved for electric vehicles. Mercedes-Benz instead has one name for both electric and electrified vehicles: EQ. Mercedes’ diesel-electric and petrol-electric PHEVs are called EQ Power. Battery-only models are instead EQ, followed by an identifying letter (or name in the case of the smart EQ fortwo). A sub-brand which began with the EQC a year ago and subsequently gained the EQV luxury MPV is being rapidly expanded with further SUVs, and from 2021, cars too.”
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By GlobalDataFinally, Smart, Maybach and Denza: “Mercedes-Maybach has just gained a giant SUV powered by a thundering, gas guzzling V8. By contrast, another Big-In-China division – Denza – has an EV-only future, as does Smart.”
America’s Department of Energy (DOE) is to plough up to US$100m across five years into two new National Laboratory-led consortia to advance hydrogen and fuel cell technologies research and development. The funding is subject to appropriations. “Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies have the potential to enable resiliency, energy security and economic growth across multiple sectors,” said Under Secretary of Energy, Mark Menezes. “Through these ambitious new initiatives, the Trump Administration continues its commitment to all-of-the-above energy solutions, providing a wide variety of clean energy options for both power generation and transportation.”
Better news despite that pesky virus persisting with its disruption. The Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Group Components brands discontinued short-time working at their German plants until further notice from 1 July, 2020. This affected Brunswick, Chemnitz, Emden, Hanover, Kassel, Osnabrueck, Salzgitter and Wolfsburg plants. Short time working at Dresden and Zwickau ended some time ago. “Thanks to the opening of dealerships and the sales promotion offerings, the order situation has recently developed in a positive way,” VW said.
Not so good news: administrators Alvarez & Marsal have been appointed administrators to auto OEM paint supplier Paintbox Birmingham here in England. Paul Flint and Mark Firmin of Alvarez & Marsal said in a statement they had been appointed joint administrators to the supplier, a subsidiary of Paintbox Group. Paintbox Birmingham is based in Kings Norton and will continue to trade in administration as Alvarez & Marsal “explores all options for the business, including seeking a potential buyer”, the statement said. The company employed 140 people at the date of the appointment. Paintbox describes itself as “predominantly a specialist Tier 1 supplier to UK-based OEMs” which “typically require low-volume modules painted in body colour to the highest standard. The work usually involves a high degree of complexity and customisation”. “We also have the technical capability and operational flexibility to deliver long run, high-volume customer programmes in a highly competitive environment.” Its customer list includes multiple auto OEMs with operations both in the UK and abroad and also various Tier 1 suppliers. Hope it can be saved.
Do fragrant car interiors make scents? Is it time to wave goodbye to gesture control? Are vegan car interiors really the new cool? Until recently, most cars were designed from the outside-in, but increasingly, designers say the whole car is being planned around the interior. Continuing just-auto/AIC’s series of research snapshots, Matthew Beecham this week reviewed some trends and recent innovations in the interiors department. Are you sitting comfortably?
I wonder if Byton’s glass wall dashboard will ever see the production light of day? I fear not. The luxury SUV EV startup reportedly has suspended operations for six months but is unlikely to resume. The prospects for the company being able to get back to business seem slim, according to a US report, citing sources both inside and outside the company. The report said Byton had completed its assembly plant in China and even won the coveted licence from government regulators needed to go into production. But, as the Chinese market was forced into lockdown, things turned bad.
Graf Industrial is in talks to merge with Baidu-backed Velodyne Lidar in a deal that would take public the maker of sensors used in self driving vehicles, according to Bloomberg. Graf Industrial is working with an adviser to help raise funding for the potential transaction, Bloomberg sources said.
Stand by for an alternative to Land Rover’s new Defender (and potential replacement for the old), engineered by Magna-Steyr with BMW power: INEOS Automotive this week revealed the exterior design of the Grenadier, its upcoming, ‘no-nonsense 4×4 vehicle for the world’. “The brief was simple. We set out to design a modern, functional and highly capable 4×4 vehicle with utility at its core,” said design head Toby Ecuyer.
Tesla’s market capitalisation now exceeds that of Toyota, making it the most valued carmaker in the world. A recent jump in Tesla’s share price puts its market capitalisation at $207.7bn versus $171.8bn for Toyota (its share price not helped by the recent slump and deterioration in Japan’s vehicle market and industry).
Have a good weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
