Good morning! It’s Thursday, October 17, 2024, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.
1st Gear: Musk Gives Trump Historic Amount Of Money
Elon Musk loves Donald Trump, so much so that he has apparently given over $70 million to the former President’s campaign as well as other down-ballot Republicans ahead of November’s election. It makes him one of the biggest GOP donors ever, according to campaign finance disclosures.
Musk made a number of donations to the political action committee he launched back in May called the America PAC in an effort to get the Sebastian Stan character back in the White House. From the Associated Press:
“The America PAC is just aiming for common sense, centrist values,” the Space X and Tesla founder said Tuesday on his social media platform X, shortly after the sum of money he contributed was made public in a campaign finance filing.
Super PACs like Musk’s America PAC can raise and spend unlimited sums of money but are typically are forbidden from coordinating their efforts with the candidates they support. A recent opinion by the Federal Election Commission, which regulates federal political campaigns, allowed for candidates and these big-spending groups to work together on so-called ground game efforts, which are the armies of people deployed to knock on doors to help turn out the vote.
But in doing so, the campaign has outsourced a core function to a coterie of untested groups that operate independently. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ decision to have an outside group canvass for him was is said to be one of the reasons his presidential bid failed.
As of today, Musk’s America PAC has spent over $38 million on voter “canvassing” efforts. Much of the money has been sent to consulting firms, including a number that are linked to Phil Cox, a former presidential campaign aide to DeSantis and the online executive director of the Republican Governors Association, according to campaign finance disclosures.
This shit sucks, man.
2nd Gear: White House Holds Stellantis Accountable
The White House is sending a warning to Stellantis: you better make good on its commitments to the United Auto Workers union and communities impacted by plant closures across the U.S. I don’t know what’ll happen if Stellantis doesn’t deliver on that, but it sure sounds spooky. From Reuters:
The deal reached in 2023 between the UAW and Stellantis “included a commitment to reopen and expand production in communities that were devastated by previous plant closures,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. “What we want to see is Stellantis certainly deliver on those commitments to the UAW and to the communities.”
The UAW says its local chapters could launch multiple strikes after asserting Stellantis has failed to keep the product and investment commitments it agreed to after the union conducted a six-week strike last year.
Stellantis agreed in 2023 within the UAW contract to invest $1.5 billion to reopen its shuttered Belvidere, Illinois, assembly plant and build new mid-size trucks by 2027 as part of $19 billion in overall investment plans.
Back in August, Stellantis acknowledged it had to delay some investments because the economics weren’t working out in its favor. However, on October 16, the automaker said “it remains committed to investing in the U.S. to create jobs and support its communities.”
Stellantis in recent weeks has filed 11 lawsuits against the UAW and local units, saying the union has violated its contract by threatening to strike over the company’s delays in planned investments.
Separately, Jean-Pierre did not respond directly to a question about a report that Stellantis plans to move some Ram 1500 pickup production to Mexico. Stellantis is currently making Ram pickup trucks in Mexico and Michigan.
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Stellantis said on Wednesday it recently announced a $235 million investment in its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan to support ongoing production of Ram trucks. The company added as it manages “the transition to electrification, it will continue to abide by the 2023 collective bargaining agreement.”
Stellantis added “no other announcements have been made about production of the Ram 1500.”
Oh, Stellantis, always the problem child. Hopefully, it’ll be able to make good on its commitments to the UAW and other communities, because this could get real messy if not.
3rd Gear: GM Wheel Supplier, Accuride, Goes Bankrupt
Wheel supplier Accuride has filed for bankruptcy with $486 million in debt as the semi truck and light vehicle wheel maker seeks to exit an unprofitable contract with General Motors and recover from low sales.
Accuride and its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada petitioned for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week in Delaware and a restructuring in Canada in an effort to lose debt and money-losing business ventures. Specifically, the company wants out of its contract to supply wheels for GM’s BrightDrop electric vans. From Automotive News:
The automaker is unwilling to renegotiate terms, said Grant Hatton, director of marketing for Accuride. About 75 percent of its business at the Ontario plant is with GM.
“So, with the cost of materials and labor rising due to COVID-19 and inflation, it has basically made that contract unprofitable for us,” Hatton said.
A GM spokesman said operations are not impacted and that the company would not comment on negotiations with suppliers.
Underutilization of plants and softening demand, particularly in the freight truck industry, also drove Accuride to seek bankruptcy reorganization, Hatton said. Manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks are its primary customers in North America.
[…]
Accuride has between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors, according to its bankruptcy filing, which lists assets between $500 million and $1 billion.
Its largest unsecured claims are Brampton, Ontario-based Matalco Inc., owed $22.8 million; China-based Zhumadian Cimc Huajun Casting Co., owed $12.6 million; and China-based Trailer Master Cvs Inc., owed $7.2 million.
Still, the company will continue its North American operations as usual through bankruptcy under debtors in possession, according to a Reuters reports. Lenders are providing $30 million in new money term loans to find operations until the company emerge from bankruptcy, which is expected to take about 90-100 days.
Accuride’s business in Mexico, Asia and Europe aren’t part of the bankruptcy, meaning many of its 3,600 global employees won’t be affected.
It’s owned by a New York City-based private equlitty group called Crestview Parterns, because folks, it’s always private equity.
4th Gear: Stellantis Recalls 44,500 Tonale, Hornet PHEVs
Stellantis is recalling 44,500 plug-in hybrid versions of certain 2024-2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale and 2024 Dodge Hornet because of an issue with the brake pedal that could lead it to disengage and stop working. From Reuters:
The announcement was made in a filing with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and a separate statement by Stellantis. The recall includes 21,069 vehicles in the United States, about 2,280 in Canada, 134 in Mexico and about 20,987 outside North America, Stellantis said.
The company said that some SUVs may have a brake pedal that could inadvertently disengage while being applied. Stellantis said it was aware of 15 instances globally of the brake pedal assemblies collapsing during normal driving, including one crash, with no injuries reported.
It’s a simple fix, according to Stellantis. Dealers will reinforce the brake pedal by adding a bolt and a nut. That’ll do it.
The company said that owners of affected models could also use the electronic parking brake to slow the vehicle in a controlled manner if they encounter a loss of braking power. Stellantis said the automatic emergency braking system, unless deactivated, will intervene without further action by the driver when it detects that a collision is imminent.
While this recall is troubling, it highlights just how few of these goddamn crossovers Stellantis has been about to sell. Through September 30, just 15,566 Hornets and 2,737 Tonales have been handed over to customers in the United States. Ouch.
