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GM to Idle 3 Plants in North America Due to Semiconductor Shortage by Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press
General Motors is idling three of its assembly plants in North America and running a fourth in South K orea at half capacity for one week as it struggles with the ongoing semiconductor shortage that has already impacted production at Ford Motor Co., Stellantis and others globally. On Feb. 8, GM will idle the following plants which run two shi ts for a week: • Fairfax Assembly and Stamping Plant in K ansas City, K S: About 2,000 hourly workers build the Chev-
rolet Malibu sedan and Cadillac X T4 SUV • CAMI, Ingersoll, Ontario Canada: About 1,500 hourly workers build the Chevrolet Equinox SUV • San L uis Potosí , Mexico: GM builds Chevrolet Equinox and Trax and GMC Terrain SUV s Some related GM plants that supply engines and other parts to the plants to be idled may be minorly impacted. For example, the engine plant at GM’s Spring Hill Assembly complex will reduce a shift on one See Semiconductor Shortage, Page 20
States Revive Push for Virus Liability Protections for Employers by Chris Marr, Bloomberg Law
More than a doz en states at the start of the 2021 legislative season are renewing a push to shield businesses from lawsuits over customers’ or employees’ COV ID-19 exposure. From Florida to Montana, state lawmakers have declared liability protections to be a top priority this year. Republican lawmakers are mostly leading the charge, but in a few cases they’re coordinating with Democratic legislators or governors. If these states enact liability shields, they would j oin more than a
doz en others that did so in 2020. These state laws broadly shield all or most types of businesses from coronavirus-related liability lawsuits, unless a plaintiff can show the co pany was grossly negligent or guilty of intentional misconduct. After a federal proposal championed by Senate Republicans failed to win approval, the attention is back on the states and expected to stay there, now that Democrats will control both chambers of Congress and the White House as of J an. 20. “ We do not anticipate liability See Virus Liability Protections, Page 26
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AUTOBODYNEWS.COM Vol. 39 / Issue 3 / March 2021
President Biden Signs Executive Order to Strengthen Buy American Act Provisions by Roger Abbott and Karl Means at Miles & Stockbridge P.C.
On J an. 25, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers. The order is part of his “ Build Back Better Recovery Plan” to strengthen American manufacturing and has potentially far-reaching effect. The order will tighten the federal government’s requirements to buy American products, support American j obs and rationaliz e the enforcement of the country’s patchwork of
“ Made in America” laws. Companies that supply goods and services to the federal governent ay no longer benefit ro statutes like “ Buy American.” The J an. 25 order will tighten agencies’ purchasing by increasing domestic content requirements and close loopholes for determining country of origin under Made in America laws. o panies that benefit ro domestic preferences now must re-examine whether they will continue to benefit under the proposed new regulations. Contractors and subcontracSee Buy American Act, Page 24
Proposed CA Bill Erroneously Includes Body Shops by Ed Attanasio
Every year at this time, Jac k Molodanof , a registered lobbyist for the California Autobody Association (CAA) and president of Molodanof Government Relations in Sacramento, CA, begins the process of reviewing hundreds of proposed bills. He needs to identify the ones that can potentially affect the collision repair industry, either positively or, more importantly, negatively. One particular bill, introduced by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, immediately caught Molodanof’s attention for all the wrong reasons. “ AB 294 was introduced this year and is sponsored by the insurance co panies he said. t s definitely a big one, for the automotive repair industry, especially for auto body shops. “ It will create a new regulatory board for towing and storage companies under the California Departent o onsu er ffairs . Unfortunately, the bill is overly broad and captures auto body shops that are already heavily regulated by
the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR.) In addition, it prohibits auto repair shops from charging reasonable rates for storage. “ The bill weakens consumer protections and hurts small businesses, by stripping the BAR of its expertise and authority to regulate auto repair shops’ ancillary storage issues,” he said. “ It creates a new V ehicle Towing & Storage Board within DCA to oversee and enforce towing and storage issues in the state. “ This new board is overly broad and would place automotive repair dealers (ARDs), that charge ancillary storage, under separate regulatory j urisdiction.” It’s simply unnecessary to include ARDs in the bill because they are already subj ect to BAR oversight, Molodanof said. “ ARDs are not in the towing and storage business. The auto repair industry is in the business to diagnose, perform maintenance and repair vehicles,” he said. “ Storage service is ancillary to auto repair shops, but usually only comes into play on total loss See Proposed CA Bill, Page 18
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