Magna lowers NorthAm, Europe auto production forecasts

Automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Magna International has further lowered its 2021 automotive production estimates for North America and Europe because of shortages of semiconductors and other materials.

Magna now expects North American production in 2021 to be down another 7pc from the estimate it published on 6 August of 14.4mn vehicles. That would represent a production loss of 1.01mn vehicle builds for the region.

Magna originally estimated that North American production would total 15.9mn vehicles in 2021.

Automakers have suffered from a lack of semiconductors and other materials as Covid-19 shutdowns led to an increase in chip demand for personal electronics at the same time that auto companies attempted to ramp up output after previously idling production.

For the US figures, the lost production could represent another 1mn short tons of steel consumption, of which 747,000st would be flat-rolled products.

In Europe, production estimates were lowered by 9pc from the 18.1mn vehicles estimated in August, representing a potential reduction of 1.63mn vehicle builds.

North American automotive production is expected to fall by 2.17mn vehicles while European production is expected to lose 1.76mn vehicle builds, according to estimates by AutoForecast Solutions.

By Rye Druzin