The Latest SAA Newsletter
13th Annual Automotive Recalls Summit: Join In-Person or Virtually
In 2025, a near-record-breaking 406 unique light vehicle recall campaigns were reported as the trajectory of filed campaigns continues its ten-year ascent. The data suggests that a by-product of continued rapid light vehicle innovation is an increased number of recalls. But it’s not just the numbers that tell the story. The nature of recalls is shifting dramatically: more mid-sized campaigns and increased tail risk, i.e., the time it takes defects to manifest, stood out in 2025. As the automotive landscape rapidly evolves, connectivity and vehicle sophistication are rewriting the rules of defect detection and response. The question isn’t just how many recalls — it’s what comes next.
The 13th Annual Automotive Recalls Summit on April 28 is where the industry comes for answers. This is the must-attend event for anyone navigating the high-stakes world of automotive safety, compliance, and quality. Expect bold conversations, hard data, and actionable insights across the issues defining recalls.
This event is held in partnership with Stout, and is sponsored by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The event is free for SAA members; $49 for non-members.
Click here for more information and to register.
Register Today for the 17th Annual Purchasing Summit
The SAA, MEMA Original Equipment Suppliers, and Plante Moran are pleased to announce the 17th Annual Purchasing Summit taking place May 19 at Marelli’s Customer Experience Center in Southfield, Mich.
This long-standing industry event brings suppliers together with OEM purchasing leaders for timely insights, candid discussion and meaningful networking. The program will open with key findings from the 2026 Plante Moran North American Automotive OEM Supplier Working Relations Index® Study, offering an inside look at the current state of OEM supplier relationships across the industry.
Following the presentation, purchasing executives from participating OEMs will join a discussion on the study’s results and share perspectives on how suppliers can strengthen collaboration and navigate the evolving purchasing landscape. The program will conclude with a networking session, providing valuable opportunities for face-to-face engagement with OEM purchasing leaders and industry peers.
Click here for more information and to register.
You’re Invited to Attend an APA Webinar: “Unlocking Sustainable Value in Software-Defined Vehicles: An AlixPartners’ Study Informed by a Multi-Region Executives Survey”
Everyone agrees that software-defined vehicles (SDV) hold great promise for the auto industry—but when will that promise come to full fruition? And, more importantly, what can automakers, auto suppliers, and tech companies do to be among the winners in the transition?
Those are among the questions to be answered by Himanshu Khandelwal, Partner and Managing Director in the Automotive & Industrial Practice at AlixPartners, and Dennis Röhr, Partner and Managing Director at Berylls by AlixPartners. And their insights will be informed by an international survey of 1,000 senior-level executives involved in SDVs from around the world, including China, the U.S., and Europe.
The webinar will take place on Wednesday, April 8, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 pm ET. There is no need to register. Simply join the webinar using this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87300955878
February Auto Sales Hit 15.8M SAAR as Affordability Pressures Grow
New light-vehicle sales in February reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.8 million units, a 1.4% decline year over year. While the pace improved compared with January 2026, winter storms across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast continued to weigh on sales activity. Industry momentum is expected to increase in March as automakers ramp up competition during the final month of the quarter.
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Economic Implications of War: Middle East War and the Automotive Industry
The Middle East war is likely to continue creating more economic, commodity and manufacturing uncertainty, with the conflict duration determining the depth of adverse impacts and the rebound effort required.
At this stage, S&P Global Mobility maintains a base-case presumption of a short-term conflict for vehicle production and vehicle sales forecasts. Oil and natural gas pricing variables are expected to be disruptive because of their cumulative effects.
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Did You Miss the Ipsos Webinar that Unlocked the Latest Consumer Behavior Trends?
Thank you to Jennifer Bender and Graham Gordon of Ipsos Strategy3 for providing very insightful comments relating to the company's Global Trends report. If you missed it, or would like to watch it again, check it out under "Presentations" in the Members Section of the SAA website (SAAauto.com).
Innovation in an Affordability Era: What Suppliers Should Focus on Today
Join Plante Moran’s automotive experts on April 21 for a timely webinar that will highlight how suppliers can navigate affordability pressures by aligning with OEM expectations, prioritizing consumer-valued features, and improving operational efficiency. Register today.
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From Volume to Value: The Auto Industry’s High-Stakes Investment Shift
Auto industry investment is shifting to fewer, larger projects that carry significantly greater capital exposure and financial risk, according to a new report. In their 2026 auto industry outlook, Global Location Strategies said automotive investment is undergoing a structural shift, with far more capital concentrated in fewer, larger projects than in previous cycles.
Click here for the rest of the article.
Western Automakers Outsourced Supply Chains for Decades — Now Chinese Rivals Have the Cost Edge
Politicians and auto industry leaders in the United States and Europe have long argued that state-sponsored subsidies for Chinese electric vehicle makers have distorted global competition. A new report challenges that assessment, saying structural advantages — not subsidies — are a key factor giving Chinese EV manufacturers an edge over Western automakers.
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Automakers Worldwide Have The Same Security Concern
Automakers now consider cybersecurity threats to their factories and supply chains to be more significant over the next five years than cost reduction and the ever-present march of automation, according to a new survey. Moreover, as a number one priority to all major OEMs, cybersecurity concerns could well shape the way automotive manufacturing evolves into the next decade.
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Supreme Court Strikes Down IEEPA Tariffs: What It Means for Your Business
The recent Supreme Court decision invalidating IEEPA-based tariffs has raised questions for companies about refunds and what lies ahead. Plante Moran’s latest update explains the impact of the ruling and what to watch for next in the evolving tariff environment.
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BYD Reveals the ‘World’s Longest-Range EV’ as American Auto Industry Struggles to Keep Pace
BYD’s luxury brand, Denza, previewed what it calls “the world’s longest pure electric driving range vehicle” this weekend, as U.S. automakers fall further behind in the global EV race. In posts on Chinese social media, Denza said the new Z9 GT can travel up to 1,036 km (644 miles) on a single charge under China’s CLTC testing standard.
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Challenges and Opportunities for the North American Auto Industry in the 2026 USMCA Renegotiation
The year 2025 was a whirlwind for the North American auto industry. The year started with one of the most generous electric vehicle (EV) consumer subsidy schemes in history, targeted tariffs that ensured that the industry would not be overwhelmed by Chinese low-priced imports, and projections of the strongest annual growth all decade. It ended with an elimination of the consumer subsidies for EVs, sweeping tariffs on all manner of products and countries, and ambiguous growth prospects. The upcoming renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) offers a window for policymakers to think through how to best weather these storms and emerge stronger.
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AI Doubled Auto Industry Cyberattacks
The automotive industry’s early adoption of artificial intelligence has opened it to a sharp spike in cyberattacks. That’s the finding of cybersecurity specialist Upstream in its 2026 Global Automotive and Smart Mobility Cybersecurity Report published Feb. 18.
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Case Study: ARaymond Unlocks Major Tax Savings and Operational Excellence
For nearly 30 years, Plante Moran has helped ARaymond navigate global expansion, streamline operations, unlock tax savings, and strengthen organizational decision-making, evolving from a service provider into a trusted advisor across tax, international, and operational needs. Learn how.
