Monday, September 27, 2021

How About Chip-Less Cars?

Yah, no, that won't happen so long as Detroit (et al) think that "better car" means "larger driver-distracting radio display."

That alone should tell you something.

You want to know why the "chip shortage" and how it's playing out?

...The first warning signs over a coming chip supply crunch came in December 2020, but the problems were initially expected to only affect car production for a short period of time, as chipmakers turned their production back toward the automakers. Lead times of six months are often required as the nanoscopic circuitry on a chip is printed on silicon substrates in a series of painstakingly long production steps that require weeks.

The shortage only became acute following a chain of unrelated events that limited supplies of raw chip wafers right at the source. First, a winter cold snap caused rolling blackouts at Texas chip fabs operated by Infineon, NXP, and Samsung, before a freak fire in March at key Japanese supplier Renesas compounded the problem. Finally a COVID outbreak brought downstream supply to a halt in Malaysia and Vietnam, a low-wage hub where chips are packaged into finished products for final shipping.

As a result, as many as 9.4 million cars, or more than a tenth of the industry’s pre-pandemic output, could be eliminated from production plans,...

Ugh.

Since that supply problem emerged, the used-car market prices got on the fast elevator, and although that fever has broken a bit, "creampuff" used cars are no longer out there in any quantity at all.  

Yes, inflation, and that's long before Biden* hammers tax increases through, which WILL raise the price of every damn thing you buy.  What--you think GM's going to bleed for YOU?  

Think again, sucka!

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