Subaru Is Getting Serious About EVs In The U.S.

Good morning! It’s Wednesday, August 2, 2023, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.

1st Gear: Subaru’s Big EV Plans

Subaru is finally getting its act together when it comes to EVs, and on Wednesday said that it wants to be building EVs in the U.S. by 2027 and selling about 400,000 battery-powered cars here by 2028. That would account for about half of its current U.S. sales volume.

The automaker’s CEO, Atsushi Osaki, also said that Subaru would be getting half of its global volume (about 600,000 units) from full-electric vehicles by 2030. Subaru will also be expanding its planned EV lineup from four models to eight. From Automotive News:

The company plans to start in-house EV production in Japan from 2025, on a line with capacity for about 200,000 vehicles a year. Subaru will add another line dedicated to EV production in Japan around 2027 with an additional capacity of 200,000 vehicles.

Meanwhile in the U.S., its biggest and most profitable market, Subaru plans to start localized EV production with an eye toward more aggressive EV sales there.

Osaki said U.S. production of EVs would begin in 2027 or 2028.

Subaru was still considering the production site, while taking into account battery procurement and EV supply chain logistics, he said. In the U.S., Subaru is considering its Indiana assembly site, but it is also looking at other options, including partnerships, Osaki said.

For batteries, Subaru will lean on Panasonic, at least in Japan at first.

Back in May, Subaru reportedly said it was rolling out four all-electric crossovers by the end of 2026, including the Solterra. Four more will join them by 2028, and one of those vehicles will reportedly be a three-row crossover built by Toyota in Kentucky.

2nd Gear: UAW Shares Their Demands

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain took to Facebook Tuesday to spotlight the “audacious” demands of members ahead of the September 14 deadline to get a deal done. From The Detroit Free Press:

“Record profits mean record contracts,” Fain said during his broadcast. “While big execs have used those extreme profits to pump up their pay, our members have fallen further and further behind. … The rich are getting richer while the rest of us are getting left behind.”

Gone are the days that contracts are won by the president behind closed doors, he said.

Fain sees merit in a 32-hour workweek, he said. COVID-19 has taught people to live life, not work 60 to 80 hours a week. “We shouldn’t have to spend seven days a week, 12 hours a day living in factories.”

Ford Motor Co., GM and Jeep-maker Stellantis can “easily” afford big changes in the upcoming contract that help workers, Fain said. Over the past decade, the Detroit Three have made a quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits. In just the first half of 2023, the three automakers made a combined bottom line profit of $21 billion, the UAW noted.

Fain listed these “audacious” goals:

• elimination of wage tiers
• substantial wage increases
• restoration of cost of living allowance increases
• defined benefit pension for all workers
• reestablishment of retiree medical benefits
• the right to strike over plant closures
• limits on the use of temporary workers
• more paid time off
• increased benefits to current retirees

The union’s demands were presented to Stellantis Tuesday, with General Motors and Ford to follow on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Throughout the broadcast, Fain consistently criticized “corporate greed” and big paydays for executives while saying workers have never worked harder for less.

3rd Gear: Ferrari Is Having A Great Time

Ferrari is reportedly raising its forecast for its full-year revenue and core earnings after better-than-expected results in the second quarter to go along with a “very strong” order book. The Italian automaker said it saw its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) growing this year between 2.13 and 2.18 billion euros. From Reuters:

The guidance upgrade was supported in particular by better than expected results in personalisations, Chief Executive Bendetto Vigna said in a statement, as well as by a strong product mix. Personalisations are the added touches that a customer requests to make the car more suited to their tastes.

The forecast for full-year EBITDA margin, however, remained unchanged at around 38%. The expected cash generation was also broadly unchanged, seen at around 900 million euros versus a previous guidance of up to 900 million euros.

[…]

In the second quarter Ferrari’s adjusted EBITDA was up 32% to 589 million euros ($646.4 million), broadly in line with analyst expectations of 580 million euros, according to a Reuters poll.

Shares of Ferrari are trading up around 40 percent this year. The outlet also reports that car shipments were slightly down last quarter in just about every region, and hybrid deliveries now account for 43 percent of total shipments. That’s over double what the number was last year.

4th Gear: GM Faces Another Takata Recall

General Motors is reportedly recalling about 900 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada with Takata airbag inflators that could end up exploding and blasting occupants with shrapnel in a crash. The recall covers a number of Chevy Camaro, Sonic, and Volt vehicles as well as the Buick Verano and the Canadian domestic market Chevy Trax. All impacted vehicles are 2013 model year. From The Detroit News:

The company says in documents posted Tuesday by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the driver’s front air bag inflator can explode in a crash due to a manufacturing defect.

The inflators are among a group made by Takata that is under investigation by the agency but has not previously been recalled.

Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time and explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel.

At least 26 people have been killed in the U.S. by the inflators since May of 2009, and more than 30 have died worldwide including people in Malaysia and Australia. In addition, about 400 people have been injured.

[…]

The air bags in the General Motors recall have a moisture-absorbing chemical called a dessicant and were not part of previous recalls. GM says in documents posted by the government that the problem is limited to a specific lot of inflators made by Takata, and that other vehicles are not affected.

But Takata air bags with a dessicant are under investigation by NHTSA because they have the potential to explode and expel shrapnel. The investigation opened in 2021 covers more than 30 million inflators in over 200 models from 20 car and truck makers, including GM.

The agency decided in May of 2020 not to recall the inflators with the dessicant, but said it would monitor them.

The potential for this dangerous malfunction in Takata airbags led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history. At least 67 million Takata inflators are involved, and the U.S. government says that millions have still not been repaired. Worldwide, about 100 million inflators have been recalled.

Reverse: Gary Oldman Source Material