25 May OEMS can rely on Tier 1 & Tier 2 suppliers…
The global impact of the pandemic on the automotive industry will be felt for years to come, with the worst decline in car sales since the Second World War.
Reacting to the new UK car registration figures from SMMT in April which were significantly up on April 2020, Chief Executive Mike Hawes said: “The past year has been the toughest in modern history and the automotive sector has, like many others, been hit hard.”
With industry wide factory shutdowns, interrupted supply chains and long lead-times for certain components with typically very low inventory levels, it’s been a difficult/challenging year for all car manufacturers globally.
However, there is some glimmer of good news. Showrooms are reopening and the market for used plug-in vehicles is staying strong with nearly a 40% increase in Q1 transactions. In the UK, during March, engine production was up 31.7% compared with the same time last year*.
Cars that are powered by electricity (hybrid or pure) seem to have weathered the pandemic storm, posting growth of 74 percent for vehicles powered solely by batteries, 94 percent for plug-in-hybrids and 12 percent for hybrids.**
This is good news for EV OEMs and the EV automotive supply chain but can tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers now keep up with the boost in demand?
At Dawson Shanahan, we already had plans in place to invest throughout 2020 and 2021, and we’ve been able to continue to do so to meet the demand in other industries that have experienced growth during the pandemic.
This will hopefully be reassuring news for our customers in the automotive sector and other sectors that have experienced disruption throughout the past year. We are well equipped to meet demand thanks to, amongst other key factors, the continual capital investment in our machines, factory and skilled team.
By investing at the right times, we have managed to weather a lot of storms in our 90+ year history and have continued to put our team’s skills to great use. This goes back to the early days in our company history when during the 1920s, Edward Dawson put his engineering skills to the test rebuilding engines for passenger cars.
In 2020, we produced over 3 million parts and used our expertise to deliver precision engineered components for some of the world’s leading brands. From power distribution to electric vehicles, the team at Dawson Shanahan has been busy making a range of components using astonishing processes and skills.
In the UK, we’re slowly emerging and hopefully recovering from the pandemic, we’re still facing the toughest social and economic time since 1939 and every country’s path to recovery will be different but we’re proud to be an immense support for our customers, suppliers and for one another.
At Dawson Shanahan, we know we can help in so many ways and we are here to support you on that road. We can work to your exact specification, or partner with your engineers to design, prototype and manufacture parts for new projects for high or low volume supply. Whatever your requirements, we can produce anything from one-offs to high volume orders, quickly, on time and to agreed budgets.
To all the manufacturers that we support around the world, drop us a line today. It’s been a tough 15 months, but we can help see you through 2021 and beyond.
*SMMT
** Statista