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Five Challenges Impacting the Upfit Market for Commercial Fleets
As we start the 2023 model-year, there is lot of uncertainty about the timeliness of deliveries of 2023 model chassis that are earmarked for upfitting. And rightly so. Many fleet manager still have fresh memories of the inconsistent delivery of chassis to upfitters during the 2022 model-year. In fact, delayed chassis deliveries was the primary reason attributed to the longer order-to-delivery times experienced by most fleets. And the question is: Will this chassis shortage and inconsistent delivery schedules continue into the 2023 model-year?
As we start the model-year, there continues to be a strong demand for trucks in both the retail and fleet markets, which promises to continue to impact chassis availability .
And over the past two years, upfitters have experienced inconsistency of chassis deliveries and fleets have seen lead times increase as a result. When you can’t depend on the vehicles showing up as expected, it makes upfitters hesitant to order parts in advance. Ideally, the ordered auxiliary parts and upfit components should arrive when the chassis arrives.
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Most electric vehicles won’t qualify for federal tax credit
A tax credit of up to $7,500 could be used to defray the cost of an electric vehicle under the Inflation Reduction Act now moving toward final approval in Congress.
But the auto industry is warning that the vast majority of EV purchases won’t qualify for a tax credit that large.
That’s mainly because of the bill’s requirement that, to qualify for the credit, an electric vehicle must contain a battery built in North America with minerals mined or recycled on the continent.
And those rules become more stringent over time — to the point where, in a few years, it’s possible that no EVs would qualify for the tax credit, says John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance of Automotive Innovation, a key industry trade group. As of now, the alliance estimates that about 50 of the 72 electric, hydrogen or plug-in hybrid models that are sold in the United States wouldn’t meet the requirements.
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The Motor City is moving south as EVs change the automotive industry
Detroit is the city that “put the world on wheels,” but it’s towns like Spring Hill and others in neighboring states that are attracting the most investments from automakers in recent years, as production priorities shift to a battery-powered future with electric vehicles.
Companies more than ever want to build EVs where they sell them, because the vehicles are far heavier and more cumbersome to ship than traditional models with internal combustion engines. They also want facilities for battery production to be close by to avoid supply chain and logistics problems.
General Motors, Subaru, Toyota Motor and BMW followed suit through the 1990s. More have followed since then, including recent announcements by Hyundai Motor and Rivian Automotive to build multibillion-dollar plants in Georgia.
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