Chip Shortage Causes "Car Rolex-ization"

The latest data from AutoForecast Solutions (AFS) shows that as of January 29th, due to the shortage of chips, the global automotive market has reduced production by approximately 304,600 cars this year. It is expected that the cumulative production reduction of the global automotive market this year will rise to 2.7989 million cars. AFS believes that even if chip supply improves, it will still take several months for the semiconductor shortage to end in the automotive industry.

On the official website of Toyota in Japan, delivery times for many models have been delayed due to the chip shortage. In the second-hand car market, the prices of some models are even higher than new cars. Since the second half of last year, the industry generally believed that the chip shortage had been alleviated, but it seems that the automotive industry has not yet recovered.

So what changes have occurred in the production of cars before and after the epidemic? How did the chip shortage occur? Has the chip shortage really been alleviated? Have car companies' difficulties ended or just begun?

Japanese semiconductor industry research expert Takashi Yamanoue analyzed the situation and pointed out that due to the transformation of automotive electrification and limited expansion of 8-inch production, there will be two extreme shortages of automotive semiconductors in the future. One type is traditional analog and power devices, and the other is cutting-edge semiconductors.