Capacity crisis continues: finished vehicle logistics survey Q1 2023
Download this exclusive report to discover the latest challenges facing finished vehicle logistics. Based on an extensive survey of FVL users and providers in the last quarter of 2022, the results provide clear insight into the specific issues affecting the logistics sector and wider market sentiment across the automotive industry.
The latest survey, produced by Automotive Logistics in partnership with RPM, identifies a widening range of challenges for finished vehicle providers. They include severe capacity constraints. labour shortages, market uncertainty, rising fuel and energy costs, volume volatility, rising freight rates, unpredictable lead times, and production disruption.
Furthermore, there are broader economic headwinds and uncertainties created by the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the impact of severe inflationary effects upon both businesses and consumers. That outlook now has the potential to be compounded by a period of stagnation or even recession across most advanced economies. That business climate makes it particularly challenging for FVL providers to survive, thrive and invest in the future.
From the perspective of vehicle logistics users, carmakers continue to face ongoing supply chain disruption with volatility in the supply of parts and materials, combined with capacity and labour constraints, affecting the timely delivery of their vehicles when they leave the assembly plant. The shortage of parts remains in the area of semiconductors, which has persisted as a lingering after-effect of the Covid pandemic and continues to impact production at the leading carmakers and has forced many to revise down their annual production forecasts.
Both the automotive and logistics industries continue to struggle with labour costs, staff retention, and recruitment. This continues to have a major impact on the production and transit of goods, not least in the transport of finished vehicles by road and rail.
Looking further ahead, the survey also captures the industry sentiment around production and sales, the wider economic outlook, company outlook, the impact of EV growth, investment in new technologies and the longer-term transitions to sustainability.
Download this survey for exclusive insights including:
Industry challenges
Legislation
Rising costs
Capacity
Labour
Semiconductor shortages
Freight rates
Lead times
Technology, innovation and digitalisation
EV logistics
Sustainability
Vehicle production
Company outlook
This survey was compiled in partnership with RPM.
With over a decade in the Finished Vehicle Logistics space, RPM is one of the fastest-growing full-service logistics companies in North America and Europe, specialising in finished vehicle transport. The company addresses customers’ shipping needs by matching available capacity and meticulously but efficiently providing complete origin to destination execution to every logistics and distribution challe