DETROIT (AP) – An increasing global shortage of auto parts semiconductors is forcing large auto companies to halt or slow down vehicle production just as they have recovered from the pandemic-related factory outages.
Officials from Volkswagen, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota and Nissan say all have been hit by the shortage and have been forced to delay production of some models to keep other factories running.
“This is absolutely an issue in the industry,” Toyota spokesman Scott Vazin said in an email Friday. “We are evaluating the supply constraint of semiconductors and developing countermeasures to minimize the impact on production.”
If the shortage of chips continues, the production cut could reduce the stock of cars, trucks and sports utility vehicles for sale in the US and other markets. This comes at a time when the industry is only beginning to replenish the stock that has been incurred, when factories closed last year to stop the spread of new coronavirus.
Toyota had to delay production of the Tundra pickup at a factory in San Antonio, Texas. Ford dropped the time at its assembly plant in Louisville, Kentucky, next week, but moved it to this week. The plant makes the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair small SUVs.
Fiat Chrysler has temporarily closed factories in Brampton, Ontario, and a small SUV plant in Toluca, Mexico, while Volkswagen said in December that production was slowing down due to the shortage. Nissan said it had to adjust production in Japan, but so far has not had a significant impact in the US
Industry officials say semiconductor companies diverted production to consumer electronics during the worst COVID-19 decline in car sales last spring. Global car manufacturers are forced to close plants to prevent the spread of the virus. When car manufacturers recovered, there were not enough chips.
“There have been warning signs about his for months,” said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry at the Center for Automotive Research, an think tank in the industry.
It takes six to nine months for the industry to get chips through a complex web of suppliers, Dziczek said. She said she hopes some of the preliminary time has elapsed when the issues started appearing a few months ago, making it a short-term rather than long-term problem. “There are still a few coming through, just not the volumes they thought would be there,” Dziczek said.
In many cases, car manufacturers have stopped producing vehicles with slower sales to lead the discs to the hotter parts of the market, including pickups and SUVs.
“This will minimize the impact of the current semiconductor shortage, and ensure that we maintain production at our other North American plants,” Fiat Chrysler said in a statement.
The automotive industry is using more semiconductors than ever before in new vehicles with electronic features such as Bluetooth connectivity and driver assistance, navigation and hybrid electrical systems. Semiconductors are usually silicon chips that perform control and memory functions in products ranging from computers and cell phones to vehicles and microwave ovens.
Car sales fell during the first spate of blockades in April, but have since recovered significantly. Sales of new vehicles in the US fell by 34% during the first half of last year, but recovered and closed by 15%.
The shortage of chips needed in increasingly automatic motors is the latest example of how the semiconductor industry’s flood and current can have ripple effects in products.
The school districts scrambled this past summer to get orders for laptops filled for students, who are still largely at a distance from classes as personal computer manufacturers struggle to secure processors and other components.
The problems began when overseas factories manufacturing the chips had to shut down in the early stages of the pandemic. The problem worsened last year after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese companies for alleged labor abuse.
To make matters worse, the schools competed for laptops against companies with deeper pockets that also placed large orders for employees while working from home.
The shortage of chips also forced Apple to push back the implementation of its latest range of iPhones until late October and early November, more than a month later than when the leading company usually releases its top-selling device.
According to research firm Mordor Intelligence, the global semiconductor market will be worth about $ 129 billion in 2025, nearly tripling in 2019. The firm lists the major players in the automotive disk market as STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies, NXP Semiconductor, Texas Instruments and Toshiba.
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Liedtke reported from San Ramon, California.