So far the
Since Kamsickas joined Dana in 2015, the company has bought 11 smaller companies, seven of them in electric vehicles. He’s trying to change the maker of axles, gears and transmissions for petroleum-powered vehicles so it can compete now and in the future.
Kamsickas spoke with
Q: How long will it be until battery-powered vehicles replace those powered by the internal combustion engine?
A: That’s the million-dollar question that everybody doesn’t have the answer for. Every market is going to be different, every region is going to be different. The bus market in
Q: Last month Dana announced a collaboration with Kenworth on an electric powertrain for medium-duty delivery and short-haul trucks. Do you think we’ll see electric vehicles on the road in commercial uses first?
A: In commercial vehicles, it’s that last-mile drive. Usually that’s the medium-duty segment. That’s coming faster because that’s where the demand goes. It’s right now. If there’s enough movement because people are into no emissions, if they’re into ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance investing), if they’re into sustainability, all of the key things that everybody is more focused on, especially in inner cities, there is going to be more demand. All these trucks that typically have more emissions than a standard passenger car, likely there’s going to be more focus on getting those corrected. If the companies believe they need to make sure that they set the right tone for those customers, they’d better have trucks that say “green” on the side. If Pepsi says something about green and Coca-Cola doesn’t, or vice versa, there might just be a demand for the company that’s more green. Ultimately everything comes down to total cost of ownership. With battery costs getting lower overall, there’s more volume coming up, which gives more scale. It’s making the cost of the vehicle, because you don’t have the cost of petrol, it’s starting to bring that down into a total cost level where it’s going to make more sense in that segment.
Q: Are you worried that the demand won’t be there for electric vehicles and the returns won’t come for a long time?
A: There is no chance in the world that all these really smart OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) that are pushing all of this money into electrification don’t have the demand there. People are going to make money, and they’re going to be able to monetize that investment. I’m bullish on it. I think it’ll come faster rather than slower. Electrification is a smaller portion of our overall investment because we got the assets, I believe, at the right time. We’re only essentially deploying our capital as the programs pull through.
Q: The coronavirus outbreak in
A: Only 5% of our business is in
Q: Will the fight over the Trump administration’s efforts to back off on federal fuel economy requirements help or hurt your company?
A: I would say it’s a net neutral for us. If the customers come to us and it’s in the light vehicle market for a pickup truck or SUV, or it’s a forklift or whatever, we like to keep it simple. We call it energy-source agnostic products. We have it essentially on the shelf. If you’re the OEM and you come to us and say I want to go full electric because I need to get to where I need to get on CAFE (corporate average fuel economy standards), we can go there. If it’s still OK relative to their average on CAFE, the internal combustion engine, we’ve got the product portfolio. We’ve taken ourselves out of the scenario of only being a one-trick pony.
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