SUPPLIER EYE

Regular readers of Supplier Eye will note that this author tries to outline the positives and the negatives of supplier strategies. It's a moving target. A recent deluge of negative headlines with respect to EVs has OEMs, suppliers and other participants re-evaluating their strategies. Slower consumer acceptance and stalled sales of some EVs - in combination with the recent eye-popping labor agreements with the UAW and Unifor unions - underscore that return on capital and labor-cost challenges will be core considerations going forward. At no point was this transition going to be smooth - “lumpy” is a better description.

While there are several positives with the ICE-to-EV transition (emissions, efficiency, reduction of carbon-fuel dependence and running costs), there are hurdles that cannot be dismissed. Of late, several of these concerns have become more prominent. One surrounds the ability for government and industry to effectively bridge the higher costs (due to scale economies) of EVs in an environment of higher average-vehicle cost.