The pandemic has exposed the fragility of the global supply chain. While just about every industry has been hit with logistical or supply constraints, the automotive sector has been one of the most high-profile industries to get hit with supply issues, especially for semiconductor chips.
Vehicles across the entire price spectrum incorporate more technology today for features such as safety, entertainment, and self-driving functionality. There is also an overall industry trend toward electrification, which demands more computing efficiency and power overall. Consider a typical compact car has about three-hundred semiconductor chips, while many new electric vehicles have upwards of three-thousand chips.
Couple all this with global production and shipping issues, and the situation has gotten to a point where a board member at Bosch, the largest automotive supplier in the world, believes automotive semiconductor supply chains are no longer ‘fit for purpose’. As a note, companies are reporting relative shortages in other supplies, such as lithium, plastics, and steel.
Read more about the effect of the semiconductor shortage here- Bosch says the semiconductor supply chains in the car industry no longer work
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