According to Sawyer Merritt, Tesla China's Vice President Grace Tao clarified that Tesla does not exclude China-based suppliers from its global supply chain, refuting recent WSJ reports. Tao emphasized that Tesla applies consistent, objective standards for supplier selection across all regions, including the US, China, and Europe. Notably, Tesla's Shanghai factory has leveraged AI-driven supply chain management to achieve the lowest global prices for Model 3 and Model Y, relying on more than 400 domestic suppliers, with over 60 also supplying Tesla's global operations. This highlights the growing role of AI in optimizing automotive supply chains, reducing costs, and creating new business opportunities for AI-driven logistics and supplier management solutions in the electric vehicle industry (Source: Sawyer Merritt, Twitter, Nov 26, 2025).

According to Sawyer Merritt, Ford's F-150 Lightning production will remain paused indefinitely due to an aluminum plant fire, which has also halved output of the highly profitable ICE Ford F-150 (source: Sawyer Merritt via Twitter, fordauthority.com). This disruption highlights the urgent need for automakers to deploy AI-driven supply chain management and predictive analytics to identify risks, optimize alternative sourcing, and mitigate operational downtime. AI solutions can help manufacturers forecast disruptions, automate procurement, and enhance resilience, presenting significant business opportunities for AI vendors targeting the automotive sector.

According to Sawyer Merritt, Rivian is laying off over 600 employees, representing about 4% of its workforce, as part of cost reduction measures ahead of launching a lower-priced SUV next year (source: Wall Street Journal via Sawyer Merritt on Twitter). The company previously cut 1.5% of its staff a month ago for similar reasons. These workforce reductions signal a likely acceleration of AI and automation integration within Rivian’s operations to maintain productivity with fewer employees. For the AI industry, this trend highlights growing opportunities for AI-driven process automation, robotics, and intelligent supply chain management solutions tailored for electric vehicle manufacturers seeking operational efficiency and cost control (source: Wall Street Journal).