The impact of the global semiconductor shortage on the automotive industry is getting worse. In addition to the problems already known, a fire that broke out yesterday in Japan inside a Renesas Electronics plant could further aggravate the global shortage of semiconductors, with repercussions that could extend beyond the Land of the Rising Sun, to car manufacturers in Europe and the United States. as Renesas holds about 30% of the global market for chips used in automobiles. The company said it will take at least a month to resume production.
In addition, the already numerous reductions announced in the global production of some models – which in some cases led to the complete closure of some factories – by many brands (including General Motors, Honda, Volkswagen, Nissan and Volvo) are now joined by Toyota. , Stellantis and Ford. Stellantis announced that “for a number of weeks” production of the Ram 1500 Classic between Warren (Michigan) and Saltillo (Mexico) will not be completed until the necessary components are available for certain devices. In practice, the pick-ups will come out of the production lines incomplete and will be completed at a later time. For its part, Toyota has decided to temporarily suspend production at the Kolin plant in the Czech Republic for at least two weeks due to disruptions in the supply chain from the United States.
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Finally, Ford will close a plant in Ohio and reduce shifts throughout the week at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. The production of models such as the F-150 or the Edge which, as for Stellantis, will be assembled several times, will remain parked in the yards of the factories for several weeks before being shipped to the dealers. Ford, which has also closed the gates to the main European plant (Cologne, Germany), has revised upwards the estimates on the consequences of the semiconductor crisis on its annual financial performance: a negative impact between 1 and 2.5 billion dollars is possible should the crisis continue throughout the first half of the year. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said earlier this month that problems may not be fully resolved by the second half of 2021, as other manufacturers have reported describing supplies as the “big unknown” for revenue in the year. Current year.