(CBS-DETROIT) – General Motors announced on Friday that this was the case lay off almost 1,000 employees worldwidean automotive expert foresees a shift in activities due to a lower than expected sales volume of electric vehicles.
Jan Griffiths, an auto industry expert and founder of Gravitas Detroit, a company working with the auto industry to meet the demands of the EV revolution, says GM is unlikely to be the only automaker looking to expand its business or shift. because we have focused so much on electric cars.
“GM has undergone quite a change in strategy recently; as you know they were all into electric cars, and when the demand for electric cars didn’t materialize as we all expected, they had to change the strategy, and now they are looking at right-sizing their business,” said Jan Griffiths.
“Stellantis is in a much worse situation. Stellantis stock is down 40%. Their last quarter sales were down 20% in the US. The dealer lots are full of inventory, so if you have a lot of cars on dealer lots, I certainly don’t have to build anymore.”
However, there is another looming problem for automakers that could have a significant impact on the auto industry: Trump-era tariffs on foreign vehicles and parts made in China.
“We expect these tariffs to be extremely high on China and foreign goods. We expected these to be high, probably higher than we’ve ever seen before, and that too will have a ripple effect throughout the automotive supply chain says Griffiths. said.
If parts are taxed at higher rates, production costs will rise, and in theory this could lead to more layoffs, but Griffiths believes automotive executives had already prepared for this if former President Donald Trump were elected.
“They will be ready. They have started nearshoring or bringing their supplies back to the US or closer to the US, and they will be ready for different levels of tariffs,” Griffiths explains. “The question is also: will these tariffs be implemented all at once, on day one, or very shortly thereafter, or will they increase over time? These are things we won’t know until the new government takes office.”
