SUPPLIER EYE

Welcome to 2019, a new year that's already brimming with challenges for mobility-industry suppliers. As they deal with escalating technology investments, unpredictable product-launch cadences, an influx of non-traditional competitors, extreme U.S. import tariffs, and other factors, most suppliers (and their OEM customers) are in a reactive mode to stabilize the bottom line.

The tariffs-25% on steel and 10% on aluminum-have been a thorny issue since March 2018. According to IHS Markit, the Steel Producer Price Index in September 2018 was up over 22% year over year, significantly impacting material economics for this metals-intensive industry. Exposure to such unplanned economic price hikes depends upon who is the importer of record, as well as whether or not they're participating in OEM material resale programs.