Outlook

In this special edition of the North America Barometer, Haig Stoddard will go beyond addressing the region’s short-term projections by also reviewing the 5-year forecasts past 2023 for the market and its top manufacturers. With the industry expected to enter 2024 still reeling from the chaos started in 2020 by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic – and subsequent supply-chain disruptions – the presentation will showcase current major trends as factors to track coming out of 2023, which ultimately will influence sales, production and inventory levels through 2028.

There is a prevailing assumption that the only use case for 5G is autonomous vehicles (AV) and since this need is moving to 2030 and beyond there is no 5G urgency. This assumption is misplaced. The reality is that the digital transformation that is burning through the industry has made software-defined vehicles (SDV) the use case that desperately needs 4G now and will very quickly demand upgraded 5G capability.

Join Steve Bell as he explores current technology, market data and survey data, as well as with tech trends from Mobile World Congress 2023, and highlights the rapidly approaching pivot point for connectivity in automotive.

North America light vehicle production forecast by vehicle type and country; by manufacturer, vehicle type, and country; by manufacturer, country, and plant; and by manufacturer, platform, and plant by month for 2022-2024. Includes list of models with their associated platform.

Haig Stoddard will address how North America’s automakers are reacting to the stresses of economic uncertainty, possible consumer push-back to higher prices, inventory mix and the improving but still problematic supply-chain challenges. While presenting the sales and production outlook, he will go over datapoints and trends to watch that ultimately could determine how strong or weak the market will be for the rest of 2023.

With the advance of the software-defined vehicle, OEM focus is shifting from the number of vehicles sold to how to continue to monetize them by perpetually improving their features and functions. Nevertheless, despite optimistic views around the new revenue opportunities, the definition of SDV is still elusive, and so is the path to transforming vehicles into software devices. Maite Bezerra will shed light on the concept of SDVs and explore the evolution of vehicle electric/electronic and software architectures, vertical integration, the challenges automakers face in updating their model lineups, and how SDVs will affect the automotive ecosystem.

2022 marked a turning point in the autonomous vehicle sector, with the cancellation of major AV projects by Volkswagen and Ford, and the closure of Local Motors, Optimus ride and others. Find out from Glenn Sanders how automakers are responding by switching strategies and diverting resources away from AV development to focus more on improving and expanding the ADAS features that customers are demanding today.

Anthony Mukoro, Senior Research Analyst at Omdia, conducted a voice-of-the-customer survey on Digital Twin and the Industrial Metaverse to understand perceptions, drivers of adoption and challenges to investment. These are two of the hottest topics in manufacturing right now, which can transform industries.
 
In this presentation Anthony will discuss how attitudes in Automotive vary in comparison to other industry sectors, as well as how attitudes vary by region, and spotlight where we are today and the opportunities of tomorrow.

Dave Zoia, Content Director, Haig Stoddard, Principal Forecaster, Bob Gritzinger, Principal Analyst Advanced Powertrains, Steve Bell, Chief Analyst Connectivity, Drew Winter, Principal Analyst Cockpit of the Future and Christie Schweinsberg, Principal Analyst Sustainability & The Digital Economy, will weigh in on overall market expectations, talk about where things stand with emerging technology and the key megatrends, make a few predictions on what the automotive industry is likely to see in 2023 and answer any questions you have about the year ahead.

With supply-chain disruptions starting to stabilize, and available production getting closer to capacity, the economy could be the biggest obstacle to growth in 2023. However, how automakers ultimately react to the underlying trends tied to the pandemic, and subsequent parts shortages, remains unclear. Inventory is rising but production still is weighted toward high-margin vehicles, a dynamic that continues to elevate retail prices while keeping lower income buyers out of the market. Fleet customers still are waiting for enough capacity to be freed up to start filling their pent-up demand, which could act as a buffer to any weakening in the retail sector. Those are some of the trends and questions Haig Stoddard will address in his outlook for 2023 for the North American market.

Wards Editor-in-Chief Bob Gritzinger breaks down the attributes of nominees and winners in the 2022 Wards 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems competition, with a look at how the 28th annual review reflects broader trends in automotive powertrain development. Electrification is on the rise, but engineers also are focused on wringing the last bits of performance and efficiency from internal-combustion engines.

Dealers ripped up their business models, embraced efficiencies and slashed waste to survive the unexpected challenges of the past few years, including the chip shortage, COVID, the war and other events that caused cultural changes. At the same time, they shifted processes in sales, service, parts, and F&I to best serve customers with both electrified and internal combustion engines.

Most dealers met those challenges and continue to see profits grow despite ongoing inventory shortages. Those embracing technologies have the best chance of maintaining and accelerating that momentum, especially as EVs populate the sales offerings, during the upcoming years.

This session outlines dealers' concerns about their businesses, EV adoption and what technologies they are anxious to explore as they seek to meet challenges that include staffing shortages, EV service and parts, hybrid sales processes, and F&I transparency that satisfies consumers and regulators.

LMC presents Global Light Vehicle Recovery Track, Trends and Path Forward including a look at the near-term disruption recovery, long-term trends, and electrification trends and Outlook.