The global semiconductor shortage that has bogged down the auto industry for almost two years is showing signs of easing, at least for now.
Mercedes-Benz AG, Daimler Truck Holding AG and BMW AG are among automakers now getting enough of the high-tech components to produce at full capacity after experiencing crippling outages for months.
The breakthrough comes earlier than the companies predicted and marks a bright spot for an industry facing a deteriorating economy and inflation while managing a historic transition to electric-vehicle production. Manufacturers are cheering the chip-supply improvement but are not declaring victory yet.
Photo: Reuters
“We’re still monitoring it week to week, but up to now basically worldwide, we had no issues running production,” said Joerg Burzer, Mercedes’ head of production and supply-chain management. Supply issues occur “here and there,” he said, “but nothing compared to what it was like last year.”
Even as demand for vehicles boomed, auto manufacturers have had to curtail output as plants globally could not source enough chips critical for increasingly computerized vehicles. The outages have been so severe that global passenger vehicle output has barely shown signs of recovery to pre-pandemic levels.
As the chip supply improves, automakers are working down their order backlogs, and concerns are turning to how consumer demand might hold up amid accelerating inflation and higher interest rates.
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker needs to cut staff by 10 percent and that he has a “super bad feeling” about the economy, according to Reuters, which cited an internal memo.
However, not everyone is as pessimistic as Musk. German automakers’ sentiment improved significantly last month, an Ifo Institute survey showed.
Confidence grew among automakers regarding their ability to raise prices to cope with soaring raw material costs, the survey showed.
Some of the new availability of chips stem from the weakening economic outlook and inflation, which has cut into demand for consumer electronics that also use the components.
Daimler Truck’s Mercedes brand head Karin Radstrom said the company is now getting the chips it needs to work down a backlog of orders.
“It’s not perfect, but it’s better than last year,” Radstrom said in an interview. “I try to not celebrate too early. We’re still monitoring the situation closely.”
BMW expressed similar reserved optimism, saying all plants are up and running and the company is not experiencing any stoppages due to chip supplies.
“Currently, the situation is a little bit more stable,” a spokesman said, adding that BMW monitors the chip supply on a daily basis and does not rule out fresh disruptions in the coming weeks and months.
Volkswagen AG, which like others estimated that the logjam would begin to ease in the second half of this year, is also seeing steady supplies, according to a spokesperson, who underscored that there is still significant uncertainty about the coming months.
Paccar Inc’s DAF Trucks unit president Harry Wolters has seen the same trend.
“We’ve seen better supply of components than we maybe anticipated five, six weeks ago,” Wolters said. “So in the US and Europe, we’ve been able to increase build rates.”
However, not all companies are enjoying the same relief. Volvo Trucks said it is still seeing limited chip availability and expects an impact on second-quarter production. And according to research by Susquehanna Financial Group, delivery times for chips — used in a range of electronics — remained flat last month, a sign that lags persist.
Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius said last year his company would resort to using a more expensive semiconductor to avoid the shortage. Ford Motor Co chief executive officer Jim Farley said last month the company would buy chips wherever it could on the open market.
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