Although I linked to the new Category Chatter podcasts last week, I really wanted to dive into the Tata Motors story (mp3) with Ravi Kumaraswami and Jason Busch a bit further. The process by which Tata shifted from a commercial vehicle manufacturer that was hemorrhaging money to a low price consumer car-maker that showcases how [more]

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The cover story in BusinessWeek this week asks the question we’ve been asking for a while: “Is it time to relocate manufacturing and supply back to the U.S.?”
A brief look at the numbers would suggest that the U.S. is a very fertile sourcing ground. (Automakers from Japan and Europe sure seem to [more]

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You didn’t have to look very hard last week to find evidence that times are changing in Detroit. Ford lowered expectations for ‘09 and is (finally) moving towards a smaller, more fuel efficient lineup. And although it didn’t gain a great deal of national attention, the dissolving of Plastech signals a major shift in the [more]

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Even if they use a euphemism like “market adjustment”, the recent steel surcharges announced by ArcelorMittal, US Steel, WCI Steel and other mills feel like a price hike to buyers. Many companies were taken aback by the unprecedented move, which jacked up prices they thought were contractually locked in place. But in this market - [more]

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As you’d probably expect of any discussion of Low-Cost Country Sourcing (LCCS), Tuesday’s breakout session on LCCS 2.0 revolved largely around China. Everyone always wants to know where China is headed? And what’s the next China? I wouldn’t say there were definitive answers to either of those questions from the panel, which included V.N. Bedekar, [more]

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