Michigan is home to the heart of America’s auto industry. What we do here with cars drives what happens across the country. (Haha! See what we did there?) There’s a lot of major stuff happening right now, so it’s worth taking a moment to check it all out!
Here are Five Fast Facts about things to watch in Michigan’s auto industry:
- 💪 The Big Dog - The auto industry is still one of the biggest pieces of the state’s economy, providing at least 700k of the state’s 5 million jobs. It’s the muscle car of the state, if you will. 😉
- ⚡ Going Green - The state went full-bore green with EVs a few years ago, seeking to bring in battery and other EV component factories that haven’t really worked out, so the stakes are high for both the state and the greater US auto industry.
- 🤔 Slippery Sales - EV sales are really hard to predict! There have been huge ups and downs this year, but the overall trend is still up, though not nearly as fast as they’d like. For example, GM sold over 38k EVs in the first half of this year, a new record. But it’s still trying to produce 250k EVs before the end of the year. Um, that’s a whole lotta unsold inventory, right? Are they just going to give it away??
- 🗳️ Election Hangups - Consumers and dealers are all waiting to see what happens with the election before moving ahead with car purchases. Pretty much everyone thinks the election will impact pricing (not to mention inflation) somehow, and there’s a huge difference between the Biden and Trump EV policies. Around 36% of dealers think political concerns are holding back business, up from 29% a year ago.
- 🎓 Transition Needed - Even if the transition to EVs continues, there’s a huge obstacle in the form of training (or retraining) for workers. Last year, about 64k workers were part of EV battery production; that number is expected to grow to over 300k in the next five years! And that’s if EVs reach 40% of all vehicles sold, not even the 54% the government is demanding. Sharpen those pencils!
🔥Bottom line: A lot has been changing over the last couple years, and a lot may still change in the next few months. Most of it will have some impact on your Paychecks, so it’s worth keeping an eye on!
Where do you think the auto industry should go?
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