Title: A Microchip Might Be Why the New Car You Want Is Hard to Locate
Headings: A Microchip Might Be Why the New Car You Want Is Hard to Locate
A Microchip Might Be Why the New Car You Want Is Hard to Locate
Pandemic Pressure
Ford, FCA, Toyota, Subaru, VW Having to Adjust
Kinks in the Supply Chain

Content: Nonetheless, the nature of the semiconductor shortage is that the situation is constantly changing, a reality the spokespeople from nearly all the automakers Car and Driver reached out to emphasized. Pauses to production can be short lived and can also be introduced rather suddenly, keeping some spokespeople from going into specifics. Kinks in the Supply Chain
A convergence of macroeconomic and political events led to the semiconductor shortage, Gartner analyst Gupta said. In the spring, demand for cars fell. In response, automakers cut orders for microchips. At the same time, the demand for consumer electronics—notably the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, as well as laptops and desktops for working from home—skyrocketed. Microchip suppliers adjusted production accordingly, and now that car demand has recovered much more quickly than expected, suppliers haven't been ready to respond. "With lead times of six to nine months, the semiconductor industry has not been able to scale up fast enough to meet this unexpected growth in automotive demand," auto supplier Continental told Car and Driver in a statement. " The bottlenecks from the semiconductor industry are expected to continue well into 2021, causing major disruptions in Continental's production." Comezora via Getty
Additionally, several moves by the Trump administration in the U.S.-China trade war resulted in fewer semiconductors coming into the marketplace, ultimately exacerbating the low supply, Gupta said.