Buyers will have to wait for 2021 cars, trucks
Usually around late summer, car dealerships begin trotting out the first batch of new models.
This year, buyers will have to wait. With the coronavirus pandemic slamming the auto industry, certain 2021 vehicles will arrive late as automakers have put the brakes on dozens of debuts.
“We’ve seen quite a few delays,” said Jeff Schuster, president of global vehicle forecasts for research firm LMC Automotive.
While there’s yet to be a new model canceled publicly, at least 24 redesigned or new vehicles that were poised to roll out in the coming months won’t come out on time, according to LMC Automotive, which provided a partial list to USA TODAY. They include the Ford F-150, Cadillac Escalade and Acura MDX.
Though designers and engineers are largely able to work from home, plant shutdowns and a sales slowdown have caused the delays.
Overall, automakers had planned to launch 38 redesigned or new 2021 model-year vehicles in the 2020 calendar year. A vehicle is generally considered redesigned when its styling, size, chassis, or powertrain have been substantially overhauled.
Of those 38, five have already launched, including the Tesla Model Y crossover, while 12 have been delayed within the year and 12 have been pushed into next year, according to LMC.
And some are “still at risk to slip into next year,” Schuster said.
The highest-profile delay is for the highest-profile vehicle: the Ford F-150.
Part of the F-series lineup, which is the best-selling vehicle in America, the F-150 is poised for a total redesign. But Ford is expected to delay the start of production from July to September, according to LMC.
Getting the redone F-150 launched as soon as possible is extremely important for Ford’s finances. But the two plants where the vehicle is assembled – one in Missouri and one in Michigan – have each grappled with brief production stoppages due to positive coronavirus tests among workers after they resumed operations following two-month shutdowns.
“That’s a substantial launch in a good year and, when everything is normal, a challenging one,” Schuster said.
fitness, 7% for travel and tourism and 8% for private security services – needed to serve some of the restaurants, stores and office buildings that reopened, according to data Glassdoor provided exclusively to USA TODAY.
Some industries have thrived during the pandemic. As Americans purchased more groceries amid restaurant closures and ordered their goods online, job postings from early March to midMay rose more than sevenfold for grocery managers and increased 177% for workers who package goods for delivery, 145% for warehouse managers and 89% for customer service sales representatives.
Job ads for public health advisers, such as consultants who help businesses manage the crisis, shot up 59%, and postings increased by a third for information technology specialists, including experts who help employees set up remote computer networks, the Glassdoor data shows.
Although demand for some of these positions probably will decrease as the pandemic eases, it’s likely to remain elevated even after states reopen as consumers and employees remain leery of resuming old behaviors, at least until a vaccine is widely available, possibly by the middle of next year.
Bank hiring has increased significantly as low-interest rates spur more mortgage refinancings and employees are needed to handle the crush of demand for the government’s small-business loan program, McDonald of Robert
Half said.
More broadly, demand has risen for tech workers, accountants, lawyers and creative directors in industries that are stable or growing, such as e-commerce, health care, financial services and insurance, McDonald said.
Staffing firm Randstad said its clients have increased hiring in banking and finance by 25% compared with pre-crisis levels. Health care systems are starting to bring on workers again as they resume elective surgeries and routine checkups.
A few months ago, when unemployment was at a 50-year low of 3.5%, companies struggled to find job candidates for those roles, McDonald said. Now, he said, some companies are taking advantage of a big supply of unemployed workers and filling those positions more quickly.
Hiring, he said, has accelerated in some cases because employers are conducting video instead of in-person interviews and are more receptive to allowing candidates in faraway regions to work remotely. That opens a larger pool of candidates.
“We’re seeing some clients hire more swiftly because more people are available,” McDonald said.
Charter Communications, the cable and broadband giant, said it hired 3,000 employees nationwide, including billing and sales agents, nearly all of them through video interviews amid the pandemic. The company said it’s trying to fill thousands of additional openings. The stay-at-home trend has been a boon for cable companies as customers dramatically step up TV viewing and streaming.