Automakers Issue Grim Warning as Looming Chip Shortage Threatens Global Car Manufacturing
The trade war is threatening to rear its ugly head once more. This time, disputes may cause a chip shortage with the potential to bring global auto production to a screeching halt. Several of the highest-volume automakers in the world, like Ford and Volkswagen AG, admit that the shortage could have a dire impact on manufacturing.
A potential Nexperia chip shortage has Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and Ford in a panic
In a disagreement over ownership and national security, Chinese officials recently banned the Dutch-owned semiconductor chip company, Nexperia, from exporting components. The dispute has prompted several major automakers, including Nissan, Ford, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz, to express concern over a possible chip shortage.
The automakers are currently frantically moving to secure and verify that they have a sufficient supply of chips to continue production. But the news isn’t great. According to a report by Reuters, Nissan confirmed that it only has enough of a chip supply to continue manufacturing through the first week of November.
“It goes without saying that we’re scouring the world to look for alternatives,” Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius said on the subject of a chip shortage. The Mercedes-Benz CEO added that the issue behind this shortage is political, meaning it will require a political solution compared to the previous, COVID-era chip shortage crisis that rocked the auto industry.
Volkswagen AG warns that it needs a steady supply of chips as Stellantis sets up a ‘war room’
Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automotive group, is dealing with a similar impending crisis. The Wolfsburg-based giant admitted that, similar to Nissan, it will need a steady supply of chips to continue production as planned into next month.
Another automotive manufacturing giant, Stellantis, has turned to setting up a “war room” to contend with the likely crisis. “We are monitoring day by day the chip situation from Nexperia,” Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told analysts in a Q3 performance call.
Although Stellantis didn’t admit that its operations were in quite the same scenario as Volkswagen AG. When one analyst asked Filosa if Stellantis was in the same boat as Volkswagen AG, he responded by saying, “This is a day-by-day management of what is an industry-wide global issue.”
