The global shortage of semiconductors that has hobbled the auto industry and made some consumer electronics more expensive could last until the middle of 2023, Intel has warned.
“While I expect shortages to bottom out in the second half [of the year], it will take another one to two years before the industry is able to completely catch up with demand,” CEO Patrick Gelsinger told analysts on Thursday.
Ouch. That’s terrible news for carmakers, many of which have been forced to idle plants this year because they can’t get enough chips, limiting the supply of new vehicles at a time when used car prices are soaring.
General Motors will stop making most of its full-size pickup trucks for a week starting Monday. It’s halting production at a Fort Wayne, Indiana plant that makes the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, and reducing production at a second plant that produces heavy-duty models.
Large pickups and SUVs are US automakers’ best-selling and most profitable vehicles. General Motors and other companies have tried to keep making them, shifting their supply of available chips away from less popular vehicles.
“These most recent scheduling adjustments are being driven by temporary parts shortages caused by semiconductor supply constraints from international markets experiencing Covid-19-related restrictions,” said General Motors. “We expect it to be a near-term issue.”
While General Motors’ supply troubles may ease in the coming weeks, the industry has to remain vigilant. Intel and other chipmakers are working to expand their production capacity, but it can take years for new plants to come online.
Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, said on Wednesday that it expects the chip crunch to persist into 2022, hampering its sales.
“The company assumes that the worldwide shortage of supply of semiconductor components will affect the business also in the second half of the year,” it warned investors. “The company also recognizes that the visibility how the supply situation will actually develop further is currently low.”
