“We are closely monitoring the situation and adjusting production schedules to minimize the effect on our employees, suppliers, customers and dealers across Europe,” said a Ford spokesman. “At the moment, we do not foresee any similar actions at our other European facilities.”
Leading semiconductor manufacturers reassigned automakers’ capacity last year after the pandemic slashed car sales by sending chips to companies that produce smartphones, gaming systems and other technology devices that remained in high demand. Supplies are still tight and automakers are struggling to secure the chips they need.
“Light vehicle manufacturers are discovering an increase in the disruption of supply of systems that use semiconductors in the first quarter,” said Mark Fulthorpe, executive director of the IHS Markit automotive team, recently in a research note. “The situation is highly fluid.”
The disruption comes at a crucial time for automakers, which suffered a collapse in sales in the first months of the pandemic, but remain under intense pressure from global regulators to invest heavily in electric cars. Research firm Bernstein estimates that global vehicle sales will grow 9% in 2021, after an expected 15% drop last year – but the lack of chips is putting the recovery at risk.
According to analysts at UBS, the world’s largest automaker could lose production of 100,000 units in the first three months of the year, or about 4% of global quarterly production, as a result of component shortages.
“We are doing everything in our power to minimize production loss and ensure that normal deliveries to customers can resume as quickly as possible,” said Murat Aksel, purchasing manager at Volkswagen Group, in a statement last month.
Audi said on Monday that it had laid off 10,000 workers because of chip shortages, with production patterns and shifts affected in factories in Germany and Mexico. Production of the luxury brand A4 sedan and A5 cabriolet was temporarily halted in Neckarsulm, Germany, until January 29.
“We are currently looking at a series of countermeasures and alternatives aimed at mitigating the impact of the supply bottleneck and, in turn, minimizing the number of vehicles affected,” said a spokesman. “Any improvement depends a lot on the semiconductor industry.”
Fiat Chrysler said last week that it would delay restarting production after a scheduled break at its plant in Toluca, Mexico, which builds the Jeep Compass. It also scheduled shutdowns at its Canadian plant in Ontario, which produces the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger.
Japanese automakers are also suffering. Toyota said it was forced to temporarily stop production at a factory in Guangzhou, China, on Jan. 12, and is cutting production at a Texas plant that makes Tundra pickups. Nissan and Honda said they were “adjusting” production in response to the shortage.
South Korea’s Hyundai said in a statement on Monday that it is “making efforts to optimize parts supply to ensure stable production at each production center”.
Chinese factories may be the most affected
Production levels in Europe, North America, Japan and India are expected to be reached this quarter, according to IHS. But the biggest problem may be in China.
“At this stage, with varying levels of visibility across the supply chain, the biggest volume disruption is seen in mainland China, where, based on available information, the risk could be 250,000 units in the first quarter,” said Fulthorpe .
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a major chip supplier, said last week that reducing scarcity is its “top priority”. “We are working closely with our automotive customers to address capacity support issues,” said CEO CC Wei at an investor conference on Thursday.
– Jake Kwon, Junko Ogura, Jill Disis and CNN’s Beijing bureau contributed to this article.