AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

As we turn the corner to the new year, we’re looking ahead with Sheryl Connelly, chief futurist at Ford Motor Company.

Sales have dropped significantly for General Motors this quarter due to part shortages and “historically low inventories” caused by issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

For Doug Field, it’s a career coming full circle, as he becomes Ford Motor Company’s chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer.

The Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles merger is at the center of the contention. Walter Chrysler founded his famed auto company in 1924. His name has stuck around through the Daimler merger and the Fiat takeover, but this new world without Chrysler bothers his great grandson, Frank Rhodes. Rhodes is also upset about the possibility the Chrysler brand itself is in jeopardy. “It’s down to two vehicles now and one is a very old Sedan and Sedans aren’t selling, so the future of the Chrysler brand may be questionable,” said Krebs.

Over the next two years, employment and incomes are forecast to increase, with Michigan’s construction and automotive industries expected to see growth. “On the one hand, it is encouraging that the recovery from the COVID-19 recession is likely to create a nearly complete jobs recovery in higher- and middle-wage industries,” the report says. In that scenario, Michigan would end 2022 with 152,000 fewer jobs than it had in the first quarter of 2020—a 3.4% shortfall. In level terms, personal income in 2022 is expected to come in 5.8% higher than in 2019. They forecast a recovery of 22,600 jobs in 2021 and 13,300 in 2022.