Chairman's Blog: International Nameplate Dealers Are Under Attack
Dealers are under attack, writes AIADA Chairman Steve Gates in his latest column. For months now, a federal budget provision has been working its way through committee rooms, both in the Senate and the House of Representatives, which would offer consumers additional tax credits if they purchase an electric vehicle assembled in a union-represented plant. Even as we here at AIADA raised the alarm through our grassroots network, we were told again and again that this thing had no legs and would never make it off Capitol Hill. Instead, the provision has gained steam, this week passing through the House Ways and Means committee to be included in the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending bill. In fact, the latest version of this scheme actually ups the offer for union-built vehicles to $4,500 in tax credits while lowering the tax credit value of American-built vehicles. The time has come to fight back. Contact your member of Congress through AIADA’s website and remind them that all American workers matter. Congress needs to stop playing politics with the lives of American workers and leave the business of car sales to those who know what they’re doing – dealers. Read more here.
AIADA Pres. Cody Lusk on Keeping the Auto Industry a Level Playing Field
More than half of all U.S. dealership jobs are created by international nameplate automobile dealers, according to the American International Automobile Dealers Association. The Association recently released their 2021 Economic Impact Report. Cody Lusk, President and CEO of AIADA, joined CBT News to discuss the report and its findings. Congressman Dan Kildee from Michigan’s fifth district, has introduced legislation to expand incentives for American, union-made electric vehicles, which recently passed through the House Ways and Means Committee. AIADA is concerned that this is a show of favoritism to union workers over non-union workers. Lusk says that the first priority should be giving the consumers the best products available without the federal government picking winners and losers. Watch his full interview with CBT News here.
Chip Supply, Testing Woes to Further Curb Light Vehicle Production in 2021, Says IHS Markit
Semiconductor shortages and the delayed packaging and testing of the chips will cause production of global light vehicles to drop by five million this year, data firm IHS Markit said on Thursday, marking the biggest cut to its outlook in nine months. According to Reuters, citing supply chain challenges, IHS said it was cutting its light vehicle production forecast by 6.2% for 2021 and 9.3% for 2022, to stand at 75.8 million units and 82.6 million units, respectively. Packaging and testing operations within the semiconductor sector in Malaysia were impacted due to the government's lockdown measures in early June, IHS said, compounding difficulties in an already constrained supply chain. "Our interpretation of the situation in Malaysia, which is responsible for 13% of the global supply of semiconductors for the automotive industry, has become more pessimistic," IHS said. "The two-and-a-half-month backlog that has built up since June will take time to clear and is anticipated to extend well into 2022." Read more here (Source: Reuters).
Volkswagen Says Chip Crisis Won't Ease Until Second Half of 2022
Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen Group’s North American unit, doesn’t see U.S. auto production returning to normal levels until the second half of 2022, reports Automotive News. The head of Volkswagen AG’s Americas business doesn’t see U.S. auto production returning to normal levels until the second half of 2022 following COVID-19 outbreaks in Malaysia that brought a fresh round of supply chain headaches. “Normal – when we can make every single car we want exactly when we want to make it – I don’t think will be until second half of next year,” Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen Group’s North American unit, said in an interview at the company’s assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).
GM Plans to Idle Factories Longer Amid Chip Shortage
General Motors Co. is extending its plans to idle some of its North American factories, compounding the effects of the world-wide semiconductor shortage on the auto maker’s production, reports The Wall Street Journal. The company said Thursday it will add to scheduled downtime at seven plants in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The move builds upon curtailments that have slammed GM and the broader auto industry throughout the year as supply constraints on computer chips continue to hold back car production. Some production lines at two of GM’s Michigan sites—responsible for work on models including the Chevrolet Traverse, the Buick Enclave and the Cadillac Black Wing—will now likely have downtime through September, the company said. At three factories in Canada and Mexico, production stoppages for the Chevrolet Blazer and Equinox SUVs have been extended as well. And at a plant in Kansas, the restart of Chevrolet Malibu production, which has been down since February, has been delayed to November. Read more here (Source: The Wall Street Journal).
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