Suppliers
The oil and gas market should be in for a relatively stable time for the foreseeable future, according to Neil Mendes, CEO of Alpine Polytech LP.
While the first quarter of 2023 has turned out to be challenging for Cabot Corp., the specialty chemicals and performance materials company still managed to sculpt some success along the way.
The increase of full-electric and hybrid models is adding to the complexity of the work that program managers handle at supplier factories — leading to higher costs and missed timelines.
According to a PwC analysis, 42 percent of suppliers reported some level of financial distress in the first half of 2022, up from 27 percent in 2021. That figure nearly matches the 45 percent of suppliers who reported financial distress in 2020 when the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic shut down auto manufacturing.
Boosted by higher selling prices and a positive exchange rate, Wacker Chemie AG saw record overall sales in 2022, according to preliminary results.
The world's 20th-largest auto supplier is looking to boost collaboration with automakers and tech companies while regionalizing its manufacturing strategy as it emerges from last year's court-led financial restructuring.
Amid a rapidly changing automotive landscape, CES provides a broad venue for parts suppliers to lay out their visions of the future.
The hacking at the German auto supply giant was said to include sensitive data from customers such as VW, information on supervisory board meetings and correspondence from Chief Controller Wolfgang Reitzle.
"There are so many new possibilities—if the industry is able to understand what is possible," Plasmatreat CEO Christian Buske said.