Automotive chip shortages to continue throughout 2023, industry says
Enlarge / Some analysts have estimated that the chip shortage has caused new car prices to rise by 16 percent in two years. (credit: golibtolibov/getty images)
We can expect continued disruption to the global semiconductor industry and, therefore, continued supply chain shortages in the automotive industry throughout 2023, according to a new report in the Financial Times. The head of Onsemi, Hassane El-Khoury, told the paper that "there's nothing you can do now to change 2023" and that "we will be adding capacity every quarter, every month in 2023 to meet our customer demand."
The problem began during the pandemic and its associated shutdowns around the world. These caused automakers to temporarily idle plants due to public health concerns, leading some to cancel just-in-time orders for silicon chips. But as vaccines became available and production restarted, the silicon fabs that would have made chips for automakers had already switched that production capacity to other customers like Internet of Things device makers.
Chip plants are running flat-out to meet demand but have warned that the problem will not be solved quickly.