Economic Contribution of the U.S. Automotive Industry

An Economic Contribution Analysis of Automobile and Light Duty Motor Vehicle and Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing in the United States

Although it is well established that the automotive industry contributes significantly to the US economy and employs millions of people, the industry’s expanding presence nationwide highlights its ongoing evolution. In this research note, CAR examines the economic contributions of the automobile and light duty motor vehicle manufacturing and parts manufacturing industries in the US.

Results from this analysis outline the effects of industry on employment, labor income, value added, output, and tax revenue. Complementing the data observed in the CAR Book of Deals that demonstrate how capital investments are expanding across the US, this analysis reveals the regional and interconnected effects of trade and commuting. These results provide a unique snapshot of the automotive industry collaboration across regions of the US.

Affordability: The Twenty-Five Thousand Dollar Electric Vehicle

White Paper

A topic on the minds of consumers and automotive industry members alike relates to vehicle affordability. CAR explores this issue in detail in a series of round table discussions with experts and industry stakeholders with a focus on supply, demand, and policy dynamics at play to affect affordability.

In this whitepaper, CAR outlines the drivers of increasing production costs, determining how to reach economies of scale via supply, and analyzing whether a $25000 vehicle is, in fact, affordable for consumers to bolster demand. Finally, CAR examines how policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions impact vehicle manufacturing and sales. This article is a timely and useful primer on the evolving factors affecting the automotive industry.

Recycling, Jobs, R&D & Scope 3 Carbon Emissions

The concept of a circular economy for Lithium-Ion batteries (LiBs), along with its drivers, barriers and enablers has been studied recently (NREL 2021) with a view to inform public policy at the federal, state, and local levels and associated government initiatives and related goal setting. More recently, estimates on the monetary value generated per ton of battery recycling material have begun to appear [McKinsey 2023], as private investors and public sector agencies look for strategic and operational guidance. At Center for Automotive Research (CAR) we have observed an accelerated investment in electric-vehicle (EV) assembly plants, EV LiB manufacturing and related research & development (R&D) in the North America – primarily in the United States (U.S.), followed by Canada and Mexico.

With the intention of looking ahead and informing automotive policy makers, investors, manufacturers and suppliers, and communities, including the state and local economic developers, CAR has summarized our initial observations in this whitepaper. We begin with an overview of the U.S. battery recycling plant locations and capacities, as they stand in mid-2023. This is followed by our observation of the U.S. market demand for battery recycling jobs, skills, and roles. Next, we outline the U.S. battery R&D outlay and then conclude with an early observation of the growing urgency to help the auto investors and communities with Scope 3 Reporting. Keywords: Circularity, batteries, Lithium-ion, recycling, emissions, Scope 3, electric vehicles, EVs, inflation reduction act, IRA.

The project begins to identify the “white spaces” in manufacturing enabled by a transition to BEV and digital manufacturing. For this project, the research team conducted long-form interviews to support a targeted technology survey of manufacturing (operations) and information technology decision-makers at five vehicle manufacturers. CAR researchers also conducted interviews with leading labor representatives. The gathered information provides a snapshot of how the North American automotive industry is digitally converting vehicle manufacturing and the critical role of BEVs in that conversion.

CAR considered three building blocks to help place structure around the digital transformation enabled by BEV manufacturing: technology (production and digital) process (scheduling, throughput, and quality assurance) and organizational (alignment and skills). CAR researchers also investigate the role of partners in the transition.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the ICE to BEV transformation is the sheer breadth of changes to the production process – from new BEV-specific parts, processes, and suppliers to new technology opportunities made possible via digital technologies. Survey results identified the production of the battery cell/module/pack and the selection of suppliers as the primary challenge of the new BEV manufacturing paradigm.

A common theme from the interviews was the uncertainty of demand for BEVs. Several manufacturers are pursuing dual-mode production lines, which will require more flexibility, specifically for ICE and BEV configurations. Digital tools are being implemented to support planning. Based on the survey results, improved supply chain integration and more timely data are the most common ingredients being leveraged for process improvements in production scheduling. Respondents indicated enhanced supplier integration would be needed as EV production increases to avoid disruption and fully leverage analytics to optimize production throughput rapidly.

OEM and Organized Labor respondents agreed that the rate of change in the automotive industry is driving the need for enhanced skills. However, a recurring theme from interviewees punctuated this point by pointing out that these skills were digital transformation-related, much more than being only BEV-related. In other words, skills associated with new digital technologies (i.e., data management requirements, advanced analytics, machine learning, and automation) remain a development priority. Still, they pertain equally to both BEV and ICE vehicles.

While automakers have specified the need to develop new digital transformation and production skills internally within their organizations, they also recognize that there are focused capabilities in which partners can most definitely enhance these efforts. The research concluded that product and service partners in the areas of hardware/software supply, business process consulting, technology consulting, and IT consulting were dispersed. However, “very important” (the very best significance level) rankings did appear at least somewhat in all three business process areas surveyed and across the different partner products and services. This is not entirely surprising, given the current marketplace’s high demand for digital transformation skills.

The interviews conducted during this research stated that companies are mainly motivated by a focus on process improvement and demands communicated by their customers. The aim of this paper is to describe how digitization and transformation to new technologies can impact the quality assurance system of the manufacturers, specifically the automotive industries.

Competition amongst quality and consumer satisfaction are the most challenging factors in each industry. This project will focus on the influence of progressive technologies and ingenuity on a variety of modern, agile, and advanced processes in the automotive industry.

The research paper includes the investigation and the introduction of numerous developments and inventions in manufacturing organizations in the last few years. The paper begins by introducing the current challenges in existing processes and the impact of digital methodologies in planning and management – specifically in quality management. This qualitative research will also incorporate a summary that covers the digital transformation and the optimizations in the quality assurance sector of the automotive field.

• Industry Focus: Technology and Innovation
• Research Focus: Automotive Industries

The summary of this project will benefit educators within the advanced technology field, manufacturing stakeholders, as well as management. The research will be presented to educate the audience about introducing artificial modern technologies in order to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and competitiveness of the organization.

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) was commissioned by NASEM to study vehicle mass reduction for model years 2025-2035. Over the past decade, CAR has been a leader in light-duty vehicle mass reduction research. CAR has done work on assessing the real-world barriers to implementing mass reduction technologies (J. Baron, 2016). CAR also worked with nine global vehicle manufacturers to examine material trends over the next decade (Baron & Modi, 2016). The project still stands as one of the most cooperative and thorough analyses done to date. CAR collected data on 42 vehicles from 4 segments representing 50 percent of the U.S. light-duty fleet. Most recently, CAR has published a Materials and Manufacturing Technology Roadmap (Modi & Vadhavkar),

The CALM group selected the vehicle roof structure for a co-development lightweighting study because it provides an opportunity for mixed-material application. The baseline vehicle for this research is the 2011 Honda Accord which has a mild steel roof structure. The design space contains twelve parts including the roof panel, roof bows, roof rails, and the headers.

Lightweighting ideas submitted by various CALM members were tested on various qualitative and quantitative parameters such as manufacturing readiness, joining feasibility, reparability, ability of computer simulation, etc. The project team selected four concepts after filtering through various combinations of the lightweighting ideas. All four concepts were studied by computer aided engineering methods including finite element analysis and design of experiments. The performance of the lightweight concepts were compared to the baseline.

This study, performed under the auspices of LIFT (https://lift.technology) and the U.S. Office of Naval Research ( https://www.onr.navy.mil), looks at how various materials can be effectively joined as well as at various processes to perform the joining.

With funding from Case Western Reserve University, the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) has prepared this report summarizing a benchmarking survey conducted across over 120 firms. The survey was conducted by Case Western Reserve University in partnership with Boston University, Center for Automotive Research, New York University, Precision Metalforming Association, and multiple part supplier associations. The survey investigates two questions: 1) what drives the adoption of new technology in the manufacturing setting and 2) how do a firm’s relationships with technology and its employees affect this adoption.