Supply Chain Research

The U.S. autos sector ended 2019 on a low with a 6.7% year over year drop in sales in December. Foreign vehicles bore the brunt of the drop in demand with a 9.5% slide. Automakers do not appear to expect an improvement. U.S. imports of cars and light trucks fell by 5.9% in November including a 13.7% slide in shipments from Europe with a 27.8% slump in imports from Germany. That’s come despite the absence of long-threatened section 232 tariffs in the sector. Seaborne imports to the U.S. linked to Daimler fell the fastest with a 49.1% slump in 4Q overall. Imports linked to BMW and Volkswag...