The Commercial Real Estate Alpha Site

Ford announced plans to pause construction on a planned electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan with expected costs of over $3.5 billion. The automaker will pause work and limit spending on the facility “until we’re confident about [their] ability to competitively operate the plant,” a spokesperson said. The company did not provide a specific reason for the pause, but it comes during the second week of a United Auto Workers strike against Ford, GM and Stellantis.

As union strikes and high fixed costs plague American car manufacturers, it’s a wide open road for challengers such as Tesla to seize the market opportunity. As legacy companies begin to come to terms with an uncertain reality moving forward, Tesla’s established supply chain and ability to drive costs lower may be impossible to catch.