Title: Global Microchip Shortage Makes Now the Time to Shop for Cars | News | Cars.com
Headings: Global Microchip Shortage Makes Now the Time to Shop for Cars
Global Microchip Shortage Makes Now the Time to Shop for Cars
What Our Data Shows
Which Models Are Affected?
Ford Motor Co.
GM
Honda Motor Co.
Nissan Motor Co.
Stellantis
Subaru
Toyota Motor Co.
Volkswagen
What’s a Chip, and Why the Shortage?
What Shoppers Can Do
More From Cars.com:

Content: With people staying home — and, notably, working and schooling from home — demand has exploded for computers and other consumer electronics. Companies that produce these items contracted with chip suppliers during the initial wave of COVID-19 when car sales contracted. When car sales rebounded, chip manufacturing capacity had been snatched up by other customers — and simultaneously was constrained by mid-summer Trump administration sanctions on some Chinese suppliers for alleged labor and human rights abuses. Bear in mind that most vehicles are built using just-in-time manufacturing techniques, whereby all the parts and subassemblies arrive from their various suppliers just in time to be built onto the vehicle. Assembly plants do very little stockpiling, even of small parts like chips, so if any necessary part becomes unavailable, the whole line shuts down — unless the missing chip is associated with an optional feature that can simply be omitted. The use of the general term “chip,” and our example above of two Toyota models that use the same device, suggest interchangeability that doesn’t reflect reality. The devices in question are often proprietary, and even the major players like Bosch that supply many brands have fallen prey to the shortage. According to IHS Markit, a microcontroller that typically takes 12 to 16 weeks to manufacture will need lead times of 26 weeks and even up to 38 weeks for in-demand components. Additionally, the organization says, lead times for nearly all chip types are one to two months longer than normal. Their complexity and the exacting conditions of their manufacture means microchip production isn’t scaled up quickly or inexpensively, so relief isn’t as close as it might be for simpler components.