News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

May 16, 2022

Tire Tech Exposition coming this week to Hannover

Filed under: Auto, Carbon Black, Conferences, Tires — Notch @ 3:19 pm

Notch will be presenting a paper on current conditions in the global carbon black industry at the Tire Tech Expo happening this week at the Hannover Messe, Germany. This giant conference/trade show is an absolute must for anyone interested in the tire industry. Notch is presenting on Day 2 (Thursday, May 19) during the “Solutions in Polymer, Filler and Compound Additives” session, which begins at 9:00 AM. There are many, many papers of interest over all three days, as well as a full trade show on-site. Hope to see you there.

December 2, 2020

GM raising EV spending, predicts 40% of US lineup will be electric by 2025

Filed under: Auto, General — Notch @ 12:24 am

General Motors is increasing its financial commitment to electric vehicles and predicts that 40% of the company’s US entries will be battery electric vehicles by the end of 2025.

Chairman and CEO Mary Barra revealed that the company will offer 30 all-electric models globally by mid-decade. Forty percent of the company’s U.S. entries will be battery electric vehicles by the end of 2025. Barra also announced an increase in GM’s financial commitment to EVs and AVs today to $27 billion through 2025 – up from the $20 billion planned before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Climate change is real, and we want to be part of the solution by putting everyone in an electric vehicle,” said Barra. “We are transitioning to an all-electric portfolio from a position of strength and we’re focused on growth. We can accelerate our EV plans because we are rapidly building a competitive advantage in batteries, software, vehicle integration, manufacturing and customer experience.”

GM said in the press release that it plans to launch 30 EVs around the world by 2025, and more than two-thirds will be available in North America. Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet and Buick will all be represented. More than half of GM’s capital spending and product development team will be devoted to electric and electric-autonomous vehicle programs.

 

August 14, 2020

Conti expects slight recovery for remainder of 2020

Filed under: Auto, Coronavirus/COVID-19, General, Tires — Notch @ 12:49 pm

Continental A.G.’s tire group expects a slight recovery in the tire market for the remainder of 2020, despite suffering a 23 percent drop in first-half sales revenue,

Rubber & Plastic News reports that Conti attributes decline in sales volumes for passenger and light truck tires to the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic.

The German group said it expects demand for replacement tires for cars and light commercial vehicles to “normalize” in the third quarter, although that means volumes in Europe will be 10 percent to 15 percent lower than a year ago and 5 percent to 10 percent lower in North America.

Continental invests $4 million to expand Indiana site

Filed under: Auto, General, Rubber, Tires, Uncategorized — Notch @ 12:48 pm

Rubber & Plastic News reports that Continental A.G. is planning a $4 million expansion of their Auburn, Indiana facility, transforming the facility into a research, development and technology hub for its ContiTech Vibration Control business.

The $4 million investment will not only upgrade the facility, it will bring more than 45 new jobs to northeastern Indiana, according a joint news release issued by Continental and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. It also will allow ContiTech to consolidate its vibration control technical center operations, currently in Michigan and Canada.

The Indiana facility should be fully operational by 2024.

U.S. auto sales outlook is still low, but shows improvement

Filed under: Auto, Coronavirus/COVID-19, General — Notch @ 12:45 pm

Rubber & Plastic News reports that the outlook for auto sales for the remainder of 2020 is better than it was a few months ago, though far from a banner year.

A recovery began almost as abruptly as things fell apart in the spring, according to analysts who gave an economic overview of light-vehicle production and sales in a Zoom presentation Aug. 5 during the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars

But it will take that recovery a long time to get back to the 17 million-plus U.S. sales levels of previous years.

IHS Markit is calling for light vehicle sales of 13.3 million this year, compared with 17.1 million last year.

August 12, 2020

Earnings down double-digits for Toyo 1st half sales

Filed under: Auto, General, Tires — Notch @ 8:39 pm

On August 7,

Toyo Tire released financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2020, projecting double digit declines.  Toyo posted 48.3% lower operating income for the six months ended June 30 on 15.7% lower sales. The company’s operating ratio fell from 8.6% to 5.3% and operating income fell to $73.4 million on sales of $1.39 billion. Net earnings fell to $4.8 million, down from 93.1%. Negative effects of lower sales and higher production costs were cited for the decline. Toyo said that tire demand hit bottom in April, and the replacement market has begun to recover in some regions, including North America. As auto manufacturers have resumed production, the size of the demand decline for tires for new vehicles has been shrinking.

Festival of Automotive to be held virtually for 2020

Filed under: Auto, Conferences, General — Notch @ 7:56 pm

The Festival of Automotive conference will be held virtually next week from August 18-20. The meeting will encompass both the WardsAuto Interiors Conference and the WardsAuto UX Conference. Registration is now open for the 3-day event, which features informative sessions and insightful speakers.

July 17, 2020

EU auto registrations down 38% in first half of 2020

Filed under: Auto, Coronavirus/COVID-19 — Notch @ 5:49 pm

On July 16, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association released data on registrations of new passenger cars in the EU for June and for the first half of 2020. For the first six months of 2020, registrations were down 38.1% relative to the same period of 2018. Declines for the individual months are below:

  • January: -7.5%
  • February: -7.4%
  • March: -55.1%
  • April: -76.3%
  • May: -52.3%
  • June: -22.3%

Over the first half of 2020, EU demand for new passenger cars contracted by 38.1%, the result of four consecutive months of unprecedented declines across the region. Among the four major EU markets, Spain saw the biggest decline (-50.9%) so far this year, followed by Italy (-46.1%), France (-38.6%) and Germany (-34.5%).

May 11, 2020

US Ford factories preparing to restart

Filed under: Auto, Coronavirus/COVID-19, Rubber — Notch @ 9:13 pm

On May 18, Ford Motor Co. will resume most North American vehicle production following the lifting of restrictions by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, with parts depots resuming operations on May 1.

The Flat Rock Assembly Plant in southeast Michigan and Oakville Assembly Complex in Canada will remain closed until May 25.

April 28, 2020

Amid global pandemic, IHS sharply lowers 2020 global light vehicle sales forecast

Filed under: Auto, Coronavirus/COVID-19 — Notch @ 11:15 am

IHS Markit, which tracks automotive sales and production trends, sharply lowered its 2020 forecast for global light vehicle sales in response to COVID-19 pandemic, warning that the US will take the biggest hit.

IHS expects global light vehicle sales to fall 22% from prior estimates of more than 12%.  In the US, IHS expects auto sales to fall 26.6% compared with a year earlier.

IHS estimates global light vehicle production to drop 21.2%.

 

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