North American auto assemblies fade in July

North American auto assemblies slumped by more than 14% from June, falling to a 20-month low in July. Assemblies were also down 1.5% year on year (y/y), according to LMC Automotive data.

A decline in auto production is typical for July, as automakers schedule summer outages for maintenance programs, facility updates, and model-year changeovers. However, this sharp drop in assemblies comes as carmakers downgrade and adjust vehicle output to meet curtailed market demand.

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.