Depending on who one asks, the semiconductor chip shortage could end as soon as the coming weeks or as long as several years from now. The crisis, which has severely impacted global automotive production for months now, has affected Ford more than any other North American automaker, and the problem has forced FoMoCo to idle a number of plants in the month of July once again. But while Ford CEO Jim Farley believes the shortage will begin to ease as soon as Q4, his counterparts at rival automakers Daimler and Stellantis aren’t quite as optimistic.
Daimler AG Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm recently told investors that he expects the chip shortage to last into 2022, though the automaker believes the chip supply will improve over its current levels, according to Reuters. The automaker’s Chief Executive, Ola Källenius, also referred to the shortage as “a fixable problem,” though like Ford, it has produced a number of chipless vehicles as it awaits more shipments. “We have some unfinished cars, but we have not let this balloon out of proportion,” Källenius said.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares presented a similar timeline for the chip shortage while speaking at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit recently, according to a separate Reuters report. “The semiconductor crisis, from everything I see and I’m not sure I can see everything, is going to drag into ’22 easy because I don’t see enough signs that additional production from the Asian sourcing points is going to come to the West in the near future,” Tavares said.
As Ford Authority reported yesterday, the Biden administration, along with Farley and General Motors CEO Mary Barra, all believe that the chip supply has already begun to improve. Meanwhile, a Mexican automotive lobby group expects the crisis to begin to ease by the end of this month and be mostly resolved by the end of 2021, though others, including Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, insist that the shortage could persist for years.
We’ll have much more on the semiconductor chip shortage soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
The car makers cancelled orders. Speaking from experience, when your the business development manager for Microsoft and Amazon, and your hear from the technical marketing director of north America at the chip company you work for during covid that the car companies are cancelling orders you simply call the sourcing folks at your accounts and ask them if they want the freed up capacity, they say yes, the orders get book for Microsoft and amazon and the car companies, with a fraction of the annual volume, but huge egos assume the chip company will bow down when needed- wrong.
HOLA, ME INQUIETA LA SITUACION DE FORD PARA LATINOAMERICA, EN PARTICULAR ARGENTINA.
TRABAJO EN UN CONCESIONARIO DE LA MARCA Y SE CAEN LAS VENTAS, MES A MES.
SI PUEDEN COMENTARME ALGO , LE AGRADEZCO.