The Week in Automotive: May Production Results Are Out

May production and exports results were presented this week. Automotive companies are adapting to the new normal production guidelines, while Ford is confident to resume usual production levels in July. On international roads, Volkwswagen Group announced a new Volkswagen brand CEO. Ready to hit the road? Here is your weekly news roundup!

Production and Exports Results.

Fausto Cuevas, Diretor General of AMIA, presented the figures on light vehicle production and exports for May 2020. Year-on-year exports declined 95.1 percent while production dropped 93.7 percent compared to May 2019. By the end of 2020, AMIA forecasts a 30 percent fall in automotive production.

As for heavy vehicles, Miguel Elizalde, Executive President of ANPACT, reported that accumulated figures over the January-May period had a 38.5 percent reduction in wholesales and a 47.6 reduction in retail sales. In May alone, wholesales were 85.5 percent less than in May 2019.

You can read the full article here

Companies Adapting to the New Normal

Ford has been successful in adapting to a post COVID-19 world. The US automaker expects to resume pre-COVID-19 production levels in the US in July. "By July 6, we expect to have all of our US plants operating at pre-COVID patterns," told Jim Farley, Ford COO to Reuters. 

A Fifth Industrial Revolution? 

Manuel Sordo, General Manager for Latin America of Universal Robots, explains the potential collaborative robots have to boost productivity up to 80 percent amid what he calls the "fifth industrial revolution."

You can read our full interview with Manuel Sordo here.

Volkswagen and Ford: Electric Partnership

Ford and Volkswagen announced on Wednesday that they will produce up to 8 million medium pickup trucks and commercial vans as part of the alliance announced in 2019 to collaborate toward electric and self-driving technology. 

Volkswagen announced a new Volkswagen brand CEO. Ralf Brandstaeter, current COO of the Volkswagen brand, will replace Herbert Diess.