Audi announced plans to invest $4 billion to build its first US production plant in Georgia, creating ~4,500 jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027. The facility is designed to produce up to 200,000 vehicles annually, with production expected to start in the early 2030s.
A steel supply constraint is affecting some production schedules at Nissan North America, the automaker confirmed to SMU. The confirmation followed a Friday report by WLBT3 News that the constraint was affecting production at Nissan’s Canton, Miss., plant. SMU asked whether the issue was affecting other facilities. “Nissan continues to manage a steel supply constraint affecting some of our production schedules,” a company spokesperson said in an email to SMU on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Nissan is working with its supplier and taking steps to limit disruption to employees, dealers, and customers, the spokesperson added. The company provided no further details.
North American auto assemblies fell 2.2% from August to 1.314 million units in September, as lower commercial vehicle production outweighed nearly unchanged personal vehicle output, according to GlobalData. After steady gains through Q2, automotive production has been inconsistent, continuing a seesaw pattern. Still, assemblies remain muted and well below pre-pandemic levels. Total production was 4% below September 2025. Still, last month’s production total was 2.7% above 2026’s monthly average of 1.28 million units.
Vehicle affordability pressures are limiting growth in vehicle volumes, according to Mark Strand, deputy chief economist at Cox Automotive. SUVs, fleet activity, and aftermarket work could support steel demand, he told the audience last week at Steel Summit 2026 in Atlanta.
Canadian union Unifor has flagged that automaker Stellantis is considering closing and selling its Brampton Assembly Plant in Ontario.
Ford Motor Co. announced it will reshore production of Lincoln-brand vehicles as part of its commitment to American manufacturing. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker said it will phase out the importation of vehicles from China for the US market and increase domestic Lincoln production starting in 2030.
Multiple risks continue to cloud the automotive outlook, including semiconductor shortages, tariff uncertainty, weaker demand, policy changes, geopolitical disruption, the war in Iran, supply-chain shocks, protectionism, cost pressures, and intensifying competition.
North American auto assemblies gained ground in February, up more than 8% vs. January, but still down more than 4% year on year (y/y), according to GlobalData.
North American auto assemblies recovered in January, up nearly 12% vs. December, though down more than 2% year on year (y/y), according to GlobalData.
In a big win for labor, domestic manufacturing, and steel demand, Stellantis announced major investment plans for its manufacturing operations across the US Midwest.
“We are committed to bring the hot-end back to full operation. The goal is to bring back to work all employees of the currently idled units as soon as we can," Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday.
The recently announced US tariffs on vehicles and key components from all markets are expected to significantly disrupt global production.
Mercedes-Benz is planning to move production of a “core segment vehicle” to Tuscaloosa, Ala., by 2027.
After a hard drop in December — the worst since July 2021 — assembly numbers have climbed three months in a row. Sentiment remains tempered, though.
North American auto assemblies recovered in January, surging 33.4% above December and rebounding from a three-year low. However, according to LMC Automotive data, assemblies were still 0.1% lower year on year (y/y). After slumping in December to the lowest total since July 2021, January’s assemblies returned to typical seasonal levels. Sentiment remains tempered as carmakers […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. continued to lose money in the first quarter, with the steelmaker blaming the loss in part on the idling of its tinplate facility in Weirton, W.Va.
North American auto assemblies ticked up in March vs. the prior month, according to LMC Automotive data. While assemblies were up month on month (m/m), they are down 4.5% year on year (y/y).
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. “To govern is to choose.” Those words, reportedly first uttered by the late French Premier Pierre Mendes-France in the 1950s, resonate vividly in our time. It means that choices have consequences and that priorities must be set based on goals. Interested parties, in and out of government, raise their voices in […]
Falling steel prices at present are not a symptom of demand but of imports arriving into the US and to some parts of Mexico, Ternium’s CEO Maximo Vedoya said this week.
Canada’s Unifor, which represents union-represented auto workers there, has opened negotiations with automaker Stellantis.
With solid demand and attractive margins, the North American market has been helping to prop up CMC’s results as its European operations struggle with weaker demand amid challenging market conditions.
Sheet prices declined less than usual this week. Does that mean we’re nearing a bottom, or is it just a pause before the market moves lower yet again?
Ford of Canada union workers represented by Unifor ratified a new, three-year labor agreement on Sunday.
A big "thank you" to Wolfe Research and Timna Tanners for organizing a lunch in today in Chicago with a group of steel industry participants and investors.
Sheet prices fell again this week, this time not on fears of a United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike but on the actual thing.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) and Mercedes-Benz have signed an agreement for the automaker to source 50,000 metric tons of C02-reduced steel for its plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
A Stellantis executive detailed today the progress the automaker is making with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union as a “good path” ahead of Thursday’s contract deadline.
The United Autoworkers (UAW) union said Friday its strike authorization vote passed “with near universal approval” from its members at the Detroit 3 automakers.
Ford Motor is getting white-collar workers ready to do blue-collar jobs at parts depots in the event of a strike, according to an article in The Detroit Free Press on Thursday.
Canadian union Unifor kicked off negotiations with the Detroit 3 automakers today, with its president saying the “talks will be the most consequential and closely watched in decades.”