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[quote=Anonymous][quote] Automakers Thrived in the Pandemic. Many Are Now Struggling.
Changing technology, political turmoil and competition from China are cutting into profits and forcing carmakers to cut jobs and close factories.
A few years ago, automakers were celebrating record profits as the pandemic created shortages of new cars, allowing them to raise prices. Now the hangover is setting in.

Nissan, the Japanese automaker, is laying off 9,000 employees. Volkswagen is considering closing factories in Germany for the first time. The chief executive of the U.S. and European automaker Stellantis, which owns Jeep, Peugeot, Fiat and other brands, quit after sales tumbled. Even luxury brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz are struggling.

Each carmaker has its own problems, but there are some common threads. They include a tricky and expensive technological transition, political turmoil, rising protectionism and the emergence of a new class of fast-growing Chinese carmakers. The many woes raise questions about the future of companies that are a critical source of jobs in many Western and Asian countries.

Many of these problems have been apparent for years but became less pressing during the pandemic, lulling some automakers into complacency. When shortages of semiconductors and other components slowed production and limited inventory, carmakers found it easy to raise prices.[/quote]
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/15/business/automakers-trouble.html

The car manufacturers are at a turning point. If they do not adapt they will end up in the trash heap of history. EVs are a lot easier to build vs ICE. EVs take 1/2 the man hours to make vs ICE. EVs are basically a battery, motors for the wheels and software. This makes the barriers to entry a lot lower. This allowed Tesla and the Chinese to leap ahead of the big car manufacturers who really weren’t do anything with EVs.

Now the manufacturing levels are at a point where serious money and engineering are being applied to the manufacturing and design improvements- ie it is no longer a proof of concept. The battery energy density is increasing at 20% a year, price of the battery is falling by 30-40% per year, weight of the battery is falling by 20% a year, motor size and weight is falling by 30-40% a year, etc. The improvements are quite dramatic.

Look at an EV ten years ago. Five years from now it will be a different world with EVs. In ten who knows but some of these big manufacturers will be bell up.[/quote]

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