significant problem.” Although Rep. Vanessa Guerra, D-Saginaw, agreed GM and other companies may have strong safety plans, she questioned whether they’re always followed. Without providing specifics, she said she’s heard from constituents saying some employees are not informed when colleagues are sick and companies are not doing enough to adequately clean sites where infected people may have worked. GM relies on the safety practices every day, requiring masks at all times while on site, O’Connell said. Echoing comments from other speakers, he said the company prioritizes employee health in a way that ensures operations can continue. “We cannot have an outbreak at our plants. It shuts us down. It shuts our suppliers down. The impact is tremendous on us,” O’Connell said. “We have not had a transmission at our plant where people are following safety protocols. Now, have we had employees who had it? Yes, but it was when they were home over the weekend and not working.” Shape Corp. President and
CEO Mark White said his company employees about 3,500 people worldwide, including approximately 1,000 on any given day in Grand Haven. The supplier, which designs and builds components that manage the forces that occur when a vehicle is in a crash, instituted temperature checks and socially distanced work sites for its facilities, White said. The company had 168 poten tial cases of the coronavirus among employees and 16 confirmed cases in Grand Haven, White said. Many were either prevented from entering a facility due to a potential fever or reported symptoms, or left work after reporting symptoms during a shift. White said his company is working with its employees to provide flexibility for those who do have child care and other needs. He also said they provided across the board raises. But he said concerns about child care, catching the coronavirus and “the financial security of the enhanced unemployment benefits” is causing unprecedented absenteeism and turnover. “Our government needs to de-
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more expensive vehicles as opposed to basic, cost-effective, non-luxury ones. Cox Automotive made sure to include that BMW continues to take the gold medal as the top luxury brand, continuing the trend since Q3 2018, with Audi and Lexus closely behind. Luxury SUVs are still at the forefront of shoppers’ minds, with 62% of people looking for an SUV as opposed to a sedan. As the market recovers and consumers have more money for spending, the hope is that demand will increase for luxury vehicles of all makes and models, which will make sales bounce back to pre-COVID levels and beyond.
Luxury Vehicle Sales distancing and sanitary measures implemented since they reopened. It’s been quite understandable consumers have been putting off car buying due to other needs during the pandemic. Consumers are facing an unfortunately high unemployment rate, as well as increased financial anxiety and budgetary restrictions, which is impacting car sales all across the board. However, while concerns will remain for quite some time, it doesn’t all look terrible. Congress is working out another stimulus package, and Americans may see some additional cash in their accounts soon that undoubtedly could push some consumers who are on the luxury/non-luxury fence to splurge for a luxury vehicle. The job market is expected to bounce back as the pandemic tapers off, meaning people will get back to having a regular, reliable paycheck and extra cash in their pockets. Consumers may then start reconsidering
velop incentives to work, not incentives to stay on unemployment,” White said. “With respect, the incentives created to stay home go beyond physical well-being. They create a false sense of financial well-being, and keep people from coming to work at Shape and other good employers.” Hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents have filed for unemployment since March. Federal legislation provided an additional $600 per week for unemployment benefits in the first months of the pandemic, but those benefits are no longer available. The state recently received federal approval to provide $300 in extra unemployment benefits, but this funding is not expected to last very long. Lawmakers and industry leaders highlighted efforts by many companies to produce personal protective equipment. GM and Ford recently announced they provided the federal government with tens of thousands of ventilators, fulfilling the terms of their contracts to built the live-saving machines that
were in short supply. Ford delivered 50,000 ventilators in conjunction with a $336 million contract. The company also donated 1.5 million masks as part of a free mask initiative led by the governor. GM plans to donate 2 million masks to Michigan public schools. That’s in addition to the 30,000 ventilators it built as part of a $489 million federal contract. Moving forward, companies want to see lawmakers take action to provide some protection from lawsuits. This week, legislators took up bills that would make it harder to sue an employer or producer of protective equipment due to coronavirus concerns. The bills still require several votes before they could make it to the governor. We thank the Detroit Free Press for reprint permission.
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24 OCTOBER 2020 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
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