b'july 27 - AugusT23, 2020ro-ro TransporTaTion 3(LOSTcontinued fromhave been very easily manu- Ofcourse,itisntjust page 2) factured in the U.S. in a plantEuropean automakers that have could have been even higherin South Carolina, Alabama,establishedplantsintheU.S. if a fourth quarter implosionMississippiorTennessee.Over the last decade Japanese hadnt occurred. Europe wasTherealironyisthatsomeandKoreanautomakershave thebiggestspenderatoverEUautomakershavetheirinvestedheavilyinbuilding $367 billion or just over 47%biggest plants not in the EU,autosintheU.S.effectively ofthemarket,withNorthbut in the U.S.shortening their supply chain to Americasecondat28%ofWhileEuropedoesindeedthe American consumer. the total and Asia at 17.5%.Tesla Motors was the only automaker to post positive numbers, up 13.2%exportmorevehiclestothe But the vise-like hold of thefor the first half. U.S.thantheotherwayUSMCAAndA UtoSpandemic(particularlyinFord. Allthreeoftheauto- Covidcasescouldthrowaaround,Europeanautomak- Perhapsnobetterillus-theU.S.andSouthAmer- makersU.S.manufactur- monkey wrench into produc- ershaveabigstakeinU.S.trationofthecomplexities ica), global recession and aning plants sat idle for aroundtionplansaproblemtheautoproduction.Goingbackoftheautoindustrysupply industryseekingdirectioneightweeksinthespringpandemic poses into the fore- tothepre-Covidstatisticsofchain exists as with the inter-couldmakeitdifficultforwithpandemicresponseseeable future. 2018,EU-ownedautomakerschangeofpartsandmanu-automakerstoputthelostlockdowns.Recently,thebuilt around 3 million vehiclesfacturingbetweenCanada, year of 2020 behind them.automakers resumed produc- t heU.S A UtoM Arket annually accounting for 27% ofthe U.S. and Mexico. Under tiontoaddressthepent-upC oMPlex thenationsproduction.EvenNAFTAMexicoblossomed U.S. A UtoS AleSP lUnge demandbutarecentspikeBackin2018itwasremovingtheFiat-Chrysleras an auto parts and manufac-In the U.S. the auto busi- in Covid-19 cases in Michi- widelyreportedthatPresi- numbers(Chryslerisconsid- turing/assembly center. How-ness is widely considered togan sparked a warning fromdentTrumpinaconversa- eredoneoftheBigThree)ever,asautomanufacturing be the nations largest manu- Michigan Governor GretchentionwithFrenchpresidentEuropeanautomakerswouldhas expanded with the addi-facturing industry accountingWhitmerthatanotherlock- Emmanuel Macron over tradeaccountfor15%oftheU.S.tion of Japanese, Korean and for roughly 3% of the domes- down could be forthcoming issueswithEuropewouldautoproduction.AndinyetEuropean automakers, so has ticnationalproduct(DNP).and with it a shutdown of thecarry on with his aggressiveanother great irony of the tradethe sourcing. Around 17 million units areplants should Michigan resi- trade policies until no Mer- wars,54%oftheEuropeanOn July 1, 2020 the new sold annually, albeit passen- dents fail to obey the order tocedes models rolled on FifthautomakermanufacturinginUSMCAaccordsreplaced gervehiclesaleshaveslidwear masks. While all threeAvenue in New York.the U.S. is destined for exportNAFTA(whichtookeffect overthepastdecadewhileautomakers have done a goodThe trouble with Trumpstoforeignmarketswhereasin 1994) and a new economic trucksandotherlightvehi- jobofimplementingsafetypronouncementisthatMer- only 23% of the U.S. auto man- (LOSTcontinued on cles have continued to rise.protocols,thenewsurgeincedes,VW,orBMWcouldufacturing is exported. page 4)Butthepandemic(and trade wars) have taken its toll on U.S. auto sales. Through thefirsthalf,itsestimated that U.S. auto salesin unit terms-areoffover23% comparedto2019.Thered inkspillsovertonearly everyautomakersbalance sheet:bignameslikeGen-eralMotors-down21.4%, FiatChryslerAutomobiles off25.8%,Fordplung-ing 23.4%. And foreign auto-makershaventfaredany better. Honda is down 23.8%, Subaru of America was down 21.3%,whileNissanNorth Americaplungedawhop-ping39.3%,andMitsubishi NorthAmericawasdown nearly 33%. A few automak- LIBERTY GLOBAL LOGISTICS llcerswereabletopostsales down less than 20%. Hyun-daiMotorAmericawasoffWe are ready when you are!18.4%,KiaMotorAmerica was down 13.6% and Mazda was off only 7% in the first half.TeslaMotorswasthe only automaker to post posi- SERVICES: WE TRANSPORT:tivenumbers,up13.2%for9100% Under Deck Stowage 9New Factory Automobilesthe first half. 9Cargo Support 9Rolling StockBut the U.S. numbers are only part of the story. Virtu- 9 Door-to-Door Services 9Privately Owned Vehiclesallytheentireglobalauto9Logistics Management 9Tracked Vehiclesindustryisslumping.This pandemic,unlikeotherpast9Liner Service 9Trucksindustry disruptions, like the9Multimodal 9Heavy Equipment2008-2009 financial crisis or9Port Inducement Available 9Project Cargothe2011JapanEarthquake andTsunami,hasimpacted9Ro/Ro Services 9Helicoptersbothsupplyanddemand.9U.S. Flag & Non-U.S. Flag 9Breakbulk CommoditiesThis lethal combo has nega- Tonnage 9Trailerstivelyimpactedbothdevel-oped countries and emerging9SOCscountries alike.Countries that produce cars have been forced to reduce auto Specializing in Gulf/USEC/Mediterranean/Middle East/Far Eastmanufacturingbothbecause ofthepandemicsimpacton employees and because of theCONTACT US AT:Rotation - Beaumont, Jacksonville, Brunswick, demandfromcustomers.For these reasons, rebuilding bothPhone: 516-488-8800 Wilmington, Boston, Livorno, Mersin, Beirut, demandandmanufacturingFor Rate Quotes: [email protected] Aqaba, Jeddah, Jebel Ali, Kuwait, Karachi, capacity will take time. Pusan, Pyeongtaek, Mokpo, Yokohama, KobeAcaseinpointisFor Bookings: [email protected] Transshipment - Mersin, Alexandria, Bahrain, Detroits big three automak- Website: www.LibertyGL.com Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, SoharersGM,Fiat-Chryslerand'