According to a Crain’s Detroit Business article from Thursday:
“Samsung SDI America Inc. plans to lay off 179 workers in Auburn Hills, home to its automotive battery headquarters, where the manufacturer has committed more than $100 million in recent years.” …
“The company will make the permanent cuts Feb. 24-28” …
“While a cause for the layoffs was not provided, it follows similar actions taken by electric vehicle battery manufacturers as slower-than-expected EV demand meets production overcapacity in Michigan and elsewhere.” …
“Michigan bet big on electrification, emerging as the highest bidder in a North America-wide competition to secure a flurry of battery projects over the past three years. Officials framed the all-in strategy as necessary to preserve a stake in its most important industry. But companies scaling back and delaying factories has invited more criticism toward the state’s $1 billion-plus subsidies for the projects.” Source: Crain’s Detroit Business.
Does “slower-than-expected EV demand” and “production overcapacity” foreshadow issues for the new DeSoto Panasonic EV battery facility due to open in Spring 2025?
In Spring, 2025, Panasonic Energy North American will open a 300-acre manufacturing facility in De Soto at Astra Enterprise Park. The facility represents the largest economic development project in Kansas’ history. The plant will make up less than 10 percent of net developable acreage on the previous Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, but that’s still big enough for the Empire State Building to lie flat from end-to-end.
When the facility is up and running, it will increase Panasonic Energy’s global capacity by 60 percent. The facility will produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles around the world. Source: City of DeSoto, KS website.
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Earl Glynn – Watchdog Lab
Earl F. Glynn is a mostly-retired data scientist, scientific programmer, software engineer and physical scientist living in the Kansas City metro area, and the publisher of the substack Watchdog Lab.
