The auto industry’s bruising year of back-to-back supply-chain snafus

Assembly lines inside a Michigan factory that churns out high-end Jeep SUVs ground to a halt last week and won't resume production until early next month.

- Ryan Felton & Christopher Otts

Ford has said it is working closely with its aluminum supplier while also exploring possible alternatives.

(BLOOMBERG)

The cause, according to an official for the United Auto Workers, is a shortage of aluminum.

Ford has paused production at three plants for the same reason.

Between the two automakers, thousands of workers in Michigan and Kentucky are now collecting unemployment.

The automotive supply chain—a sprawling web of companies across the world—is in focus in a way it hasn't been since the early 2020s, when a severe shortfall of semiconductor chips hobbled the industry. Auto executives routinely tout a lesson from that moment: Don't rely too heavily on any one supplier. Now, supplies of multiple items are gummed up at the same time.

“The confluence of issues is once in a lifetime,” said Sam Fiorani, an analyst with consulting firm AutoForecast Solutions. “We haven't seen this happen before. The lessons learned from semiconductors should have prepared the manufacturers for some problems in the supply chain. But all these at once are unforeseen and very difficult to navigate.”

All this is rattling an industry that has already been hampered by billions of dollars in tariff payments and a costly pivot away from electric vehicles. Last week, General Motors said the EV pullback would cost it $1.6 billion.

Stellantis unveiled a $13 billion U.S. investment plan that will help defray its tariff bill.