Tuesday, December 5th, MBN was on the road to Detroit, Michigan, for the MICHauto Summit 2023.
Click on the YouTube video shared below to watch Chris Holman speak with Joe McCabe, President and CEO of AutoForecast Solutions LLC (AFS)
THE NEW REALITY Michigan must continue to be a world leader in the innovation, technology, and manufacturing of devices that make the movement of people and goods possible. On Dec. 5, 2023, MICHauto hosted its annual MICHauto Summit to offer perspective on the state of the automotive and mobility industry.
During the 2023 MICHauto Summit, John McElroy, Host of Autoline, and Joseph McCabe, President and Chief Executive Officer of AutoForecast Solutions LLC, took the stage to discuss Michigan’s electric vehicle (EV) challenges and future—providing Summit attendees with a reality check on the industry. The discussion began with a keynote from speakers and ended with a lightning round of questions.
A Race to Manufacture
McElroy began the conversation with a keynote on his stance on the EV industry, sharing a blurb from his 2018 op-ed on a bleak outlook on the EV industry and a narrative that EVs are best avoided.
“I wrote that five years ago,” McElroy said. “I don’t think I would change one word today.”
As for where the EV industry is today, EVs have become politicized, and automakers are losing billions of dollars on their electric vehicle programs each year. However, McElroy ended his keynote optimistically by noting that Tesla lost money for over a decade and did not turn the corner until mid-2019. He predicts that Legacy vehicles won’t catch up in the EV market until around 2026.
Tackling Industry Disruptors
Then McCabe took the stage to tell the empirical part of the EV industry story. He began with the four hurdles of EV adoption: cost, range, infrastructure, and raw materials.
From there, McCabe dove into the data and discussed the many disruptors to the industry, including the number of manufacturers in North America doubling before 2030, who will pull away from the legacy players and distract consumers.
According to McCabe’s data, North American EV production is currently at the “bottom of the hockey stick,” and production in the upcoming years will remain steady before a significant increase. But he predicts Tesla will not be the winner of the BEV production leaderboard, with Volkswagen and Stellantis overtaking Tesla by the decade’s end.
“I’m not anti-EV. I’m pro-reality,” McCabe said. “We are moving forward. It’s just going to be really long to get there.”
Joe McCabe leverages his decades of industry experience and knowledge to provide production forecasting and advisory services to the global automotive community. Joe manages the automotive turnkey operations at AFS including the global light vehicle, powertrain, drivetrain, and alternative propulsion forecast as well as a suite of AFS proprietary opportunity and sales planning software. AFS supports all tiered suppliers, VMs, government agencies, financial institutions, and the academic community with data, planning solutions, and a personalized support to help identify new business opportunities while mitigating risk. Joe’s 25+ year career in automotive forecasting ranges from his tenure at AutoFacts, PwC, AutomotiveCompass, and now AutoForecast Solutions. Joe earned his Bachelor’s of Chemical Engineering at Villanova University and an MBA at Pennsylvania State University.
AFS is the premier provider of automotive forecasting databases, business planning solutions, & concierge-level support for the automotive industry. Accurate and timely data is only half the story. Our team of subject matter experts, each with decades of experience, provide a customized and concierge-level of support to each customer. Our business is your business. Your products, your customers, and the issues shaping your success. It's simple, a data provider needs to provide more than just data they need to be your partner. The AFS approach adds value to your critical business decisions. AFS is the right partner to help navigate the volatile automotive industry. We are focused to improve your competitiveness, opportunity identification, and revenue growth. The industry is accelerating at an unprecedented rate and a partner focused on your success is needed to navigate the market properly.
AutoForecast Solutions (AFS) – Driving Data into Decisions.
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