The Latest SAA Newsletter

• Where Are Recalls Heading in 2023 and How Will They Impact You
• Registration Now Open for 14th Annual Purchasing Summit; All Six Major OEMs to Participate
• Drivers Are Increasingly Apprehensive Toward Autonomous Vehicles
• Assessing Auto Manufacturers’ Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Risk (European and U.S. Manufacturers Are Better Positioned)
• Unintended Consequences of a Growing EV Fleet?
• 2023 M&A Outlook
• A Change in Automotive Fortune is Coming
• Recall Outreach — Improving Vehicle Safety Through Enhanced Customer Intelligence
• Three Arguments Why EV Automakers Should Be Using Aluminum
• Ford Says Its Electric Vehicle Project Should Be Seen as a Startup After Reporting $2.1 Billion in Losses
• Using M&A and Other Strategic Transactions to Enhance EV-Launch Readiness
• Electric Vehicles Making Electric Vehicles
• Will U.S. Car Buyers Order…and Wait?
• New Whitepaper: Disruptive EV Technologies Drive New Supplier Realities
• Beyond the Battery: EV Value Chain
• Are We Seeing the End of the Entry-Level Car

Winter is Coming: The Auto Industry Faces Significant Risk Exposure from the Looming European Energy Crunch

With energy prices in Europe skyrocketing, placing business bottom lines in triage mode, a harsh winter could place certain automotive sectors at risk of being unable to keep their production lines running.

Traditional Automakers to Ramp Up EV Competition in China

Traditional automakers in China are likely to boost their electric vehicle (EV) market shares by absorbing more of the cost increase caused by ongoing supply-chain bottlenecks, says Fitch Ratings. They will be supported by their more profitable internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) and more robust funding access, compared to the EV start-ups.

2023 SAA Events

The SAA has a robust line-up of in-person and virtual events planned for 2022. Check regularly for updates.

Click here to learn more.

This is Where Electric Vehicle Adoption is Headed Between 2022 and 2025

The number of consumers looking to buy EVs globally has hit 52%. This is the first time 50% has been exceeded, and it represents a rise of 22 percentage points in just two years.

Toyota, Honda Finish 1-2; General Motors Finishes at 3rd in Annual Supplier Working Relations Study

Results of the 22nd annual North American Automotive OEM – Supplier Working Relations Index® (WRI®) Study show in spite of supply chain shortages and production volatility, transition pains to electric vehicles, logistics constraints, and increasing raw material costs impacting automakers and suppliers, two of the six major U.S. OEMs made substantial improvement in their WRI® scores and two held steady, while two others fell – one significantly.

The Top Business Intelligence and Analytics Trends for the Automotive Industry 2022

What’s struck me in the past years is how the tools we have at our disposal, at a societal and corporate level, are insufficient to solve the big challenges we face. We see this with the pandemic, climate change, social inequity and much more. And, more recently, in the disruptions in supply chains, which have created global shortages of key components and materials – many of those impacting the automotive industry. To solve our biggest issues, we don’t have a choice but to get together and create joint, interwoven solutions.

Global Light Vehicle Sales Update

December’s Global Light Vehicle (LV) selling rate fell for the fourth consecutive month to 82.7 mn units/year, despite flat YoY raw monthly registrations. The total sales figure for 2022, 81mn vehicles, came in slightly below that of 2021 (-0.6%) due to heightened market disruptions.

Pandemic Acts as Catalyst for Additional Change in Auto Industry, Analysts Suggest

The COVID crisis is proving to be a bigger accelerator for altering the automotive industry in fundamental ways than originally expected. OEMs must continue to grapple with the challenges brought about by autonomous driving, shared mobility, driveline electrification, but now there are additional changes in manufacturing as automaking transforms to a product from a service.

SAA Automotive Outlook Conference Recap: “Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Volatility”

Last Sunday I was honored to present FSG’s Global Economic Outlook at the Society of Automotive Analysts’ Outlook conference in Detroit, the unofficial kickoff of the prestigious North American international Auto Show. I lightheartedly titled my presentation “How to Stop Worrying and Love Volatility” because 2019 promised to feel even more unstable for business and investors than 2018.