The global chip shortage that has gripped the auto industry for months is yielding impressive numbers. For example, the shortage would already have prevented the production of 3.6 million cars, while the problem seems to be slowly shifting to Asia.
It was previously predicted that the chip shortage will ‘make a difference’ to 3.9 million cars, but that number is already in sight. Automotive News has added up all announced production stops and comes to a number of 3.6 million lost production places. It is going fast, because last week there were ‘only’ 3.2 million. So the forecast is also going up: AutoForecastSolutions (AFS) now assumes that 4.7 million fewer cars and commercial vehicles will eventually be built due to the chip shortage.
South Korea and China
According to reports, the core of the problem increasingly lies in Asia. Earlier it became clear that Hyundai, which had initially been exempt for a long time, is still experiencing problems due to the shortage. In the past week, the Korean giant is said to have canceled production of 22,000 cars. Elsewhere in South Korea, General Motors adds another 29,000 by temporarily halting production of Chevrolets built there.
The fact that China is also feeling the consequences of this shortage has already become clear with the sales figures for May. SAIC is said to have recently removed 65,000 vehicles from its production schedule. Of course, this problem also festers elsewhere in the world and many production sites are still being scrapped in the West.
The chip shortage is a result of enormous global demand for (electronic) consumer goods, which in turn is said to be caused by people who are at home in large numbers due to the corona pandemic. A shortage of semiconductors leads to a shortage of computer chips, which has hit the car industry hard, among other things.
Occasions more expensive
In addition to production stops, the chip shortage also has a number of unexpected consequences. For example, Peugeot decided to temporarily delete the digital instrumentation of the 308, Ford builds incomplete cars and car rental companies, who reduced their fleet at the beginning of the corona misery, were forced to buy ‘second-hand cars’.
The prices of used cars are also going through the roof in several parts due to a lack of new cars. In the US in particular, a lot of money is paid for a car that is simply available, even if that means that a second-hand car is more expensive than a new one.