When visiting Shrewd'm with a laptop, it can be pleasant to hold Command (or Ctrl with Windows) and '+' a few times. The site scales to allow any font size, and the larger font can be pleasant to read even for Shrewds with perfect sight! For luxury Shrewdness, you can combine that with setting the browser to full screen. You'll then find yourself Shrewding a lot.
- Manlobbi
Personal Finance Topics / Macroeconomic Trends and Risks
No. of Recommendations: 3
Seems that the big three walking back their EV plans, is rattling it's way through the supply chain, with vendors having invested Millions, or more, based on the OEM's assurances of huge volume.
Ford suppliers clash in court after a collapsed EV deal
That is the backdrop for a lawsuit that has emerged from Ford Motors’ decision to postpone its electric truck program, a move that has triggered a legal fight between program suppliers who each claim they are being unfairly saddled with the fallout. According to reporting on the Ford EV truck postponement, the dispute centers on who should bear the cost of investments made in anticipation of volumes that will now arrive later, if at all, and it underscores how a strategic pause at the automaker level can cascade into existential threats for smaller firms.https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/ford-supplier...Auto parts is a pretty shaky business in the best of times. Delphi and Visteon both went BK, after being spun off from GM and Ford. Long time vendor Collins & Aikman collapsed about 20 years ago.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
Automotive supply chain for parts for all vehicles has already imploded.
https://www.cbtnews.com/u-s-automakers-struggle-wi...Jeep and Ford factories are paused due to aluminum shortages
The disruptions stem from multiple supply bottlenecks, including aluminum, rare-earth minerals, and semiconductors.
The automotive industry is also contending with billions in tariff costs, a costly pivot away from electric vehicles, and ongoing market pressures.https://www.carscoops.com/2025/11/gm-tells-supplie...GM Quietly Told Suppliers To Ditch Chinese Parts And Now The Trouble Begins
Suppliers warn replacing China ties after decades will be extremely difficult.https://nilsenreport.ca/why-the-auto-parts-supply-...After years of hearing “on backorder” or “delayed with the supplier,” drivers are used to it. Even though many industries are improving, car parts supply chains are still struggling. Longer shipment periods, factory bottlenecks, and increased part demand are issues. They affect repair shops, stores, and drivers who wish to fix their cars.Complex ecosystems surround car parts. A single part can be made from raw materials and computer chips and assembled in three nations.
The most evident effect is lengthier car repair times. A one-afternoon project may take longer if a vital part remains open. A car may sit in the shop for days while mechanics trace shipments, revise orders, or find solutions.
Ask your service business in advance how long parts will take. Finding out early whether significant jobs like changing timing belts, rebuilding gearboxes, or diagnosing computer systems are available helps prevent last-minute surprises. If a part is scarce, you can schedule the job or find another brand that meets the same standards. I like to watch youtubes of auto technicians that own their own shops. COVID really slowed parts delivery but that has improved but it is still not 100% recovered. Also these shop owners rant about having to order a part 3 or 4 times to get a good part. The shop owners also recommendation brand name sensors [NGK/Denso]. Yes the Chinese knock off will work but it won't last as long as a name brand. Also the shop owners have to watch for counterfeit parts passing as a name brand. The vendors don't seem to care.
https://www.investigatetv.com/2025/02/03/taking-ad...
No. of Recommendations: 0
It would be that hard to ditch the Chinese suppliers. We are going to ditch the US consumer first.
No. of Recommendations: 0
I like to watch youtubes of auto technicians that own their own shops.
One guy, who goes by "Wizard" has done a couple pieces ranting about OEMs no longer providing any parts support for cars that are not all that old. One example he pointed to was a Dodge Challenger, that, iirc, was less than 10 years old: head gaskets unavailable. The "Humble Mechanic" really ranted about VW abandoning it's owners. He had bought a Mk5 GTI, which was produced from about 2004 to 2009. The door wire harness was broken, a common problem as VW designed the Mk5 harness too short and the wires were bent sharply when the door was opened. No problem he figured, as he mosied down to the VW dealer for a replacement. "Obsolete" the parts counter guy said. Service parts used to be a gold mine for OEMs. Seems they are only concerned with pushing new cars out the door these days. Taking care of their customers after the sale, like providing parts support, is no longer a goal.
For the record, VW dealers have never had a part, outside of routine maintenance items, in stock, since my car was new. Brake anti-rattle clip? Gotta order it, come back in a week. Secondary air injection system pressure sensor? Gotta order it, come back in a week.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 0
Steve,
Interesting. The English failed to set up distribution and service across North America. They lost the market in the early 70s.
VW sounds like it is giving up the ghost in the US.
Japan rides with us into demand-side economics. Probably Japan will stay with it.
No. of Recommendations: 1
It would be that hard to ditch the Chinese suppliers. We are going to ditch the US consumer first.
I remember the Detroit newspapers reporting the first of the big three to start buying parts from China, 20+ years ago. iirc, it was Ford. Ford and GM both spun off their in-house parts operations, as Visteon and Delphi, so they could outsource parts. Visteon and Delphi quickly went bankrupt.
This is a different situation than the "shortage" narrative that OEMs were leveraging to increase prices and fatten margins, in 2021-22. The vendors have sunk a great deal of capital into supporting the OEM's push into EVs. While I have been watching Farley's shucking and jiving at Ford, to avoid writing off the Billions that company has at risk in EVs, until after he retires, the vendors are looking at the same EV trajectory. It's hard to believe those vendors did not have a cancellation clause in their contracts, so they could recover their investments from the OEMs.
Either way, the US' pivot away from EVs is going to send tens of Billions to money heaven.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
VW sounds like it is giving up the ghost in the US.
VW is in a particularly vulnerable spot, as the majority of models sold in the US are assembled in Mexico, and the USMCA zone content is too low to qualify for the USMCA tariff rate. VW has already announced the Golf, for EU sale, will be built in Puebla, Mexico, the plant that has been providing most of the cars VW sells in the US. In another forum, I have said that VW may pull out of the US, and pivot it's Mexican plants to entirely building for other markets, while VW lays off more Germans.
Steve
