On January 8, Ford, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Nissan Motors all stated that due to insufficient supply of semiconductor components, they will reduce vehicle production this month. In addition, Honda Motor also said that its car production in Japan will also be affected by semiconductor shortages.

Ford said that its assembly plant in Louisville, Kentucky will stop production, which will assemble Escape and Lincoln Corsair models. Ford declined to disclose the identity of the chip supplier. The company spokesman Kelli Felker said the company hopes to resume operations as soon as possible.

FCA postponed the restart of production at its Toluca plant in Mexico from this week to the end of this month. The plant produces Jeep Guide models; in addition, the FCA plant in Brampton, Ontario will also suspend production. Production of Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger models.

Nissan said it plans to reduce production of the Note hybrid vehicle at its Oppama plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, but did not give details on the reduction. According to Japanese media reports, in January, Nissan’s Note production at this plant will be reduced from the initially planned 15,000 to 5,000.

A Honda spokesperson said the company is also beginning to "see some impact on parts supply." Japanese media reported that Honda will first reduce production of about 4,000 cars this month, and a factory in Suzuki, three prefectures, that produces Fit cars will be affected. In addition, a fire broke out in a plant of Asahi Kasei Microelectronics Co., Ltd.'s Noboka Manufacturing in October last year, which also affected semiconductor supply.
Toyota will reduce the production of full-size pickup trucks at the Tundra plant in San Antonio, Texas, but the exact number of reductions is still unclear. On January 8th, General Motors and BMW Group stated that they have not yet received the impact of the chip shortage, but are paying close attention.

Last month, Volkswagen Group issued a statement stating that due to the shortage of electronic components, the group needs to adjust its car production in different locations in China, North America and Europe to adapt to the supply situation in the first quarter of 2021.

As consumer demand gradually recovers from the global pandemic of the new crown epidemic, automakers and electronics manufacturers are facing global chip shortages, leading to production delays. Credit Suisse analyst Daniel Levy said in a research report that chip supply problems may limit the auto industry's production in the short term. Another industry insider said that his company is giving priority to producing cars with higher profits.

Automotive chip suppliers such as NXP Semiconductors said that the rate of recovery of auto production has exceeded expectations and is currently trying to catch up. At the same time, demand for chips in other industries has also increased substantially. In the context of the new crown epidemic, many companies have adopted a home office system that has led to hot sales of laptops and sales of game consoles are also rising.

Reprinted to Gasgoo