Industry keeps an eye out for UAW strike’s impact on small suppliers
In a statement to Automotive News, Magna International, North America’s largest parts supplier, said it is “closely monitoring the situation” but that it is “premature to comment on any specific impact” to its operations.
“However, we have focused considerable attention on contingency planning to proactively address any temporary business disruptions to our operations,” Magna spokesperson Tracy Fuerst said in an email. “If that time comes, we are prepared in terms of temporarily scaling back production on affected programs as efficiently as possible, while being equally prepared to ramp-up quickly when ready.”
A spokesperson for Robert Bosch, the world’s largest auto supplier, declined to discuss any specific potential impacts on the company’s business.
“Bosch manufacturing operations are correlated to customer orders, and we monitor this data as part of standard operating processes,” Bosch spokesperson Tim Wieland said in an email. “We have and will continue to work with our customers to plan for potential manufacturing disruptions and strive to minimize the potential impact for our associates.”
A spokesperson for Denso, the world’s second-largest parts supplier, said the company’s operations are running as normal.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and working with our internal teams, customers and supply chain to prepare for a variety of potential developments,” Denso spokesperson Andrew Rickerman said in an email. “Our focus is meeting our customers’ shifting needs by engaging our teams through stable work schedules.”
Mary Arraf, a spokesperson for Continental AG, said in a statement that the company is “continuing operations as usual, without disruption, for all our customers,” adding that the potential impact on its business “is hard to measure at this time.”
In an email to Automotive News, Martinrea International Executive Chairman Rob Wildeboer said the strike has thus far had “limited impact” on the Canadian supplier. The key moving forward will be the “length and scope” of further strike actions, he said.
“I believe no one has a clear line of sight on that,” Wildeboer added.
Michael Martinez and Reuters contributed to this report.
