Automotive leaders adapt network strategies to address modern challenges
Speaking at the Finished Vehicle Logistics North America 2026 conference, industry leaders revealed how they are adapting their network strategies to be flexible and proactive, taking into account considerations such as cost increases, driver shortages, cross-border complications and new model launches.
It's impossible to ignore the inevitable disruption the automotive supply chain industry is facing today. Whether it be labour shortages or issues with cross-border logistics, the industry is getting used to dealing with multiple headwinds at once. For proactive companies, however, these challenges present opportunities to adapt and create networks that can thrive amid disruption and transformation, turning survival into success.
At FVL NA 2026, several experts from OEMs, tier suppliers and logistics providers came together to share how they are shifting strategy and redefining partnerships to enhance resiliency and address core challenges facing the industry today.
Diversification with discipline
One crucial strategy for improving network resiliency is diversifying with partners. Over-reliance on a single partner can leave a whole supply chain vulnerable if that one partner faces unexpected disruption. From the Novelis fire to the Nexperia crisis, the past 12 months have provided a wealth of evidence to support this.
But this strategy requires balance. It's important to diversify the base enough that there are several different options available without spreading the business so thin that the partners aren't gaining either.
"Diversify with partners, but do it smartly," advised Tony Stinsa, head of inbound and outbound logistics at International. "Don't do it to the nth degree where you've got too many partners. Have a few trusted partners, but try not to have any partner that's a single point of failure."
Data-driven network optimisation
As companies continue their digital transformations, tremendous opportunities for network optimisation become more visible. Todd Myers, director of finished vehicle logistics and logistics purchasing at Nissan Group of America, highlighted how the company's data democratisation efforts have created "an enormous amount of data insights" in the business which it is trying to use to drive better operational decisions.
"We're also sharing more information with our carriers and that's in turn providing us more resiliency in our operation," Myers explained, highlighting the benefits of having a trusting and transparent relationship with partners.
He also noted that technology is also transforming processes through the automation of processes, leading to dynamic ETAs where they were previously static and auto-tendering processes, which used to be manual.
When it comes to onboarding and communicating with partners, Myers identified how new sourcing platforms are allowing Nissan to simultaneously look at a lot more options than it ever was able to when it was using it more manual and error-prone software like Microsoft Excel.
"That software was not even giving the carrier the right information that they needed to accurately quote, so I think we've got the right tools now, but it's also about relying on your core partners," he said.
Smart deployment of AI tools
The rise of AI has allowed firms to test AI tools to automate previously manual and sometimes tedious tasks in the hopes of optimising resource allocation while improving accuracy. Myers gave an example of how the implementation of AI tools to help with tariff compliance ended up reducing the staff count on this task from 30 to one, while dramatically reducing the number of errors recorded.
Stinsa shared that he has seen AI being used to automate repetitive, labour-intensive tasks carried out by third-party logistics providers, with carriers using AI agents to communicate with drivers.
"I think they're finding that it's more efficient with less mistakes and also gives them the ability to have an iterative process where they can clarify and make sure people understood, as well as automatically sending texts and things like that," he said. "There's a few of our 3PLs putting in AI agents – one of them has taken a task that used to take 30 minutes and now it takes less than a minute, and they're saying it's more precise and specific too."
However, striking the right balance between taking advantage of new technologies and retaining the right level of human involvement is difficult. Maintaining humans in the loop is vital to build relationships with customers and partners, and to ensure that staff are expanding their expertise.
"If you don't embrace AI, you may be left competitively behind – that's the reality that we're working with today," stated Vasily Borovsky, vice president of government services and operations at USKO Logistics. "But we're trying to ensure that AI capabilities enhance execution rather than replace execution, and this is very important."
While the opportunities AI presents are vast, there is still a need for a human touch in some areas. "That human element still has to remain because at the end of the day, people are making decisions together with people," added Borovsky.
"Ultimately, the responsibility of finished vehicle logistics is to get the car delivered – that rings the OEM's cash register." – Todd Myers, director of finished vehicle logistics and logistics purchasing at Nissan Group of America
Modal flexibility
The above quote from Myers highlights the fundamental function of finished vehicle logistics – to get vehicles to their destination in the most efficient way possible. To do this, one strategy that is really important is flexibility in modes of transport.
"We have to have multiple modes in place proactively to address shortcomings elsewhere in the network," explained Myers. "Typically what you're ebbing and flowing is high-cost logistics logistics to low-cost logistics."
He noted that the fluidity of the cross-border rail network in North America has improved enormously over the past two years so the industry is seeing a migration back to rail from short sea shipping. "But if something changes, we're flexible enough to move back if we need to," he noted.
