Hello and welcome to Speed Lines, The Drive’s summary on what topics in the world of automobiles and transportation. It’s Thursday, which is good, because it means it’s almost Friday. On today’s schedule: The governor of Michigan warns that auto plants could close if others don’t wear masks, more on General Motors’ electric vehicle strategy in the face of Nissan’s pandemic and production cuts for the rest of the year.
U.S. auto plants They restarted this summer after a months break for coronavirus, and they did so with new competitive protective measures, they had many difficulties. Spare parts shortages, chain-of-origin disruptions, virus outbreaks, and absenteeism have been persistent problems, all as U.S. dealers see their car and truck inventories decline. Although situations are incredibly safe in factories, automakers cannot control the behavior of their off-line staff, or from the other people they come into contact with.
As such, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a stern warning to the citizens of her state: if she doesn’t wear a mask and Michigan sees a resurgence of the virus, auto plants may have to close again. From Bloomberg:
“If Michiganns don’t hide when we pass out in public, the instances may accumulate and we’ll be forced to close more of our business, adding car production plants that employ thousands of people,” Whitmer said at a news convention in Lansing. , Michigan.Array “A momentary wave of this virus can certainly be devastating”. Caution arises when automakers are expanding production in factories to verify and meet strangely strong demand, especially for pickup trucks and vehicles in gaming applications. General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV temporarily closed their plants in Michigan and elsewhere in the United States in March to help the Covid-19 outbreak.
As this story points out, coronavirus instances have increased again in Michigan, with nearly 900 new instances reported, peaking since mid-May.
Needless to say, a moment of prevention would be a major blow to the automotive industry. Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler desperately want new cars, especially pickup trucks, to reach dealerships. New car sales have been catastrophic in many parts of the country, however, truck sales have been controlled to be one of the few positives. And it’s an industry where many other people in Michigan and around the world count for their livelihood.
At the same time, government officials and automakers will have to strike a balance between keeping the lights on and keeping others safe, and obviously this is not an easy task. The answer? Wear a mask in public and stay away from others for a while. It’s not hard.
As with the rest of the global automotive industry, the pandemic came at a difficult time for GM. It seeks to transfer aggressively to electric cars in the years and decades to come, with the ultimate purpose of installing without fossil fuels. Now he has to deal with this with falling sales, declining profits and uncertainty around production.
However, the automaker is proceeding with its large investments in electric vehicles, he reiterated in a report on sustainable progression released today. GM says the pandemic is being deterred by switching to electricity. Here’s what it means:
Therefore, truck sales are doubling for now, GM does not promise the long-term electricity on the road just because of the pandemic. So far, this turns out to be the case for the industry as a whole. We’ll see if that commitment lasts.
If the new Nissan Ariya is a clue, I doubt that the besped Japanese automaker is particularly cutting electrification. But it is cutting global vehicle production until the end of the year, as it works to reduce prices and solve its problems, Reuters reports:
Nissan plans to increase production from 510,000 cars in the first quarter to about 930,000 in July-September, resources said. Second quarter production will decline by about 25% compared to a year ago, according to Reuters calculations.
Production is expected to reach around 1.1 million cars between October and December, about 8% less during the year.
In July-September, Nissan’s production will be the hardest hit at home, falling by about 47% from last year, after the automaker announced that it would eliminate more jobs at its Japanese meetinghouses. Domestic production will be slightly until December.
I’m about to see what this means for dealerships and auto buyers in the United States, as they’ve both had origin disorders in recent months.
The buyers of Subaru and Lexus are the unbreakable highs for brands, according to J.D. Power (CNET Roadshow).
Nissan captures some of Tesla’s magic with an SUV (WSJ)
Toyota adjusts sedans for 2021 after Yaris (Automotive News)
With ‘Point Break’, Kathryn Bigelow gave action enthusiasts another kind of sweet eye (MEL Magazine)
The pandemic has revealed a great virtual division in our schools, which they themselves fix (Gizmodo)
26 albums you may have missed in 2020 (Vice)
Are you making plans for the momentary closure of some U.S. auto plants?
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