Tag Archives: automobiles

Understanding the reasons for GM’s shift of work from Mexico to Canada

Posted on September 30, 2016 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (September 20, 2016) titled “G.M. Job Shift From Mexico Tests a Trump Premise”, describes a decision by General Motors to shift work from an automobile engine plant in Mexico to Canada and shutting … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, competitiveness, consumer, Global Contexts, Made in USA, manufacturer, Operations Management | Tagged automobiles, Canada, General Motors, Mexico | 1 Comment

VW variety and associated costs

Posted on September 17, 2016 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (November 20, 2015) titled “Volkswagen (VW) choked by cost and complexity”, claims the company has 117 different steering wheels for the Volkswagen Golf. Plans are afoot to decrease that to 43, with efficiency programs … Continue reading →

Posted in manufacturer, Supply Chain Issues, Uncategorized, Variety, vehicles | Tagged automobiles, competition, Toyota, Variety, VW | Leave a comment

Auto supply shortages in the US and impact

Posted on September 3, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 3,2013) describes supply constraints faced by US auto dealers for cars made by Nissan, Ford, Toyota and Honda. Dealers report having significantly lower inventories, one car instead of the normal 15 in … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged automobiles, Capacity, Consumers, Inventory, Retail, Risk, Supply Chain | 1 Comment

Japanese multinationals importing back into Japan

Posted on September 17, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (September 17,2012) describes automobiles made in Thailand by Nissan but ported back for sales in Japan. At 1 million yen, it is 65% of the price of a Japanese made car and 34 % of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged automobiles, Capacity, Consumers, Cost, Imports, Japan, manufacturing, Margins, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Corn trade restrictions, price increases and the impact on the urban poor

Posted on September 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (September 15, 2012) describes impact of the recent drought in the US, coupled with ethanol blending requirements for fuel on a spike in corn prices. Similar choices by other drought stricken countries and price sticker … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged automobiles, biofuels, Cost, Global, regulation, Supply Chain, Sustainable | 1 Comment

The high cost impact of choices made for the GM Volt hybrid vehicle

Posted on September 10, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article by Reuters (September 10, 2012, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/10/us-generalmotors-autos-volt-idUSBRE88904J20120910) describes General Motors as losing $ 49,000 on each Volt it builds. The costs are due to developmnt and tooling costs, number of unique parts in the battery pack and motor as … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged automobiles, Consumers, Cost, Design, GM Volt, manufacturing, Margins, Suppliers, Supply Chain, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Volkswagen (VW) and its Modular Transverse Matrix strategy for part commonality

Posted on September 3, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Fortune (July 23, 2012) describes VW’s plan to standardize the 60 % of a car model’s cost – the front axle, heating, air conditioning etc across 40 car models and thus seven million units. The projected savings … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged automobiles, Capacity, commonality, Consumers, Global, Growth, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Trading zero emission credits to comply with state regulations

Posted on June 9, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (June 7, 2012) describes California’s regulation requiring 2 % of cars sold by automakers selling 60,000 cars annually to be zero emission by 2014 and 15 % by 2025. But automakers can also buy credits from … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged automobiles, Cost, credit trading, Design, Environment, manufacturing, regulation | Leave a comment

Regulating copper in brake pads at the state level

Posted on February 6, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Feb 3, 2012) describes a proposal that requires that automobile brake pads decrease the copper content to less than 5 % by 2021 in Washington and less than 0.5 % by 2025 in California. … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged automobiles, Coordination, Cost, Design, manufacturing, regulation, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

New Chinese rare earth quotas for 2012 and consequences

Posted on December 28, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Dec 28, 2011) describes China’s announcement of separate rare earth metals export quotas for 2012 – light rare earths (used in magnets) will have quotas separate from heavy rare earths (used in high … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged automobiles, Capacity, China, Cost, Environment, manufacturing, Rare Earths, regulation, Sustainable | Leave a comment