How the Chip Shortage Is Forcing Auto Makers to Adapt | WSJ

How the Chip Shortage Is Forcing Auto Makers to Adapt | WSJ

The number of semiconductors in a modern car, from the ignition to the braking system, can exceed a thousand. As the global chip shortage drags on, car makers from General Motors to Tesla find themselves forced to adjust production and rethink the entire supply chain. Illustration/Video: Sharon Shi

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50 Comments

  1. mel leblanc on May 28, 2022 at 12:28 pm

    US car cos are crippled by chip shortage, sales down across the board.

    China auto sales are up…particularly ev sales up between 80% to 300% y/y. What are the Chinese doing right?



  2. DoctorWhoRoblox1935 on May 28, 2022 at 12:29 pm

    You know what? With this chip shortage, we should go back to using old technology for cars. Manufacturers should make car that is mostly analog and mechanical, doesn’t use electronics, and most and important of all a car that is affordable and practical enough for common people to own that exploits the chip shortage by those factors. Only exception is the car can either have an induction motor for an electric option, a traditional gas engine or a combination of both as a hybrid.



  3. Shyam on May 28, 2022 at 12:30 pm

    do we really need these chips to decide on timing for turbocharger

    what about some mechanical mean to decide timing?



  4. tristan long on May 28, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    The future is not in front of you, it’s in your past.

    Here is a crazy idea but it might work.
    1: stop putting all that tech in cars, and start selling a real base model car again.
    2: a check off catalog for every add on that you want in a car, no more just offering package or trim models. If you want a base camaro with a ls7, that should be allowed.
    3: cut the cost. Cars are way over priced and become harder to work on and more expensive to maintain.
    If you get rid of the fancy tech or add ons, then you need to reduce the the same money that goes into buying those parts.
    4: Start building everything that makes those cars here in the US. I’m talking the steel, fabric. Engines, body’s, frames, ect. EVERYTHING!!!
    Why bother buying a car made in Mexico, when you should be buying a car that is fully built on the US economy. That helps the economy grow and provides jobs here in the USA.

    Now that’s alot of writing or texting in this matter. But the point is, this is what we use to do here in the USA.
    It’s the way it should be.
    Let the customer build their car the way they want it or can afford it.
    Make the car affordable so the average person can buy it and not be sent to the soup kitchen.
    The profit of a car made in America should provide fully to the US economy and it’s people.



  5. Danny Palmer on May 28, 2022 at 12:32 pm

    End of world.



  6. Rogelio Ocon on May 28, 2022 at 12:33 pm

    Go back to mechanical. How about you turn head to check your blind spot. I guess technology isn’t always the best way to go.



  7. Henry Stevens on May 28, 2022 at 12:33 pm

    The female narrator sounds like an American trying to sound English I don’t get it



  8. Manny Garza on May 28, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    Let’s Go Brandon!



  9. D on May 28, 2022 at 12:36 pm

    Only the chip supply chain & it’s destination was disrupted during covid.
    Chip production actually increased, bang on schedule, during this time.
    Chip makers simply prioritised who the chips go to.
    The auto industry lost out, why, because they refuse to stockpile, to save on costs, & used the risky supply us, just in time, approach to manufacturing.
    Serves them right, greed backfired.



  10. R3APER50 on May 28, 2022 at 12:37 pm

    Time to bring back the carburetor and roll up windows. I don’t need half the garbage on my car anyway.



  11. Greg Sexton on May 28, 2022 at 12:40 pm

    Keep it simple stupid. I personally don’t like how complicated cars are new. Anything electronic goes bad it’s expensive to fix. I miss 80s and 90s simplicity of cars. Wish you could by a base model with no infotainment system or manual windows locks. I personally don’t need all that to drive my car. Some of it causes distracted driving.



  12. Robert Matthews on May 28, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    My 1948 Ford F-1 runs just fine without chips.



  13. PRATAP THAKUR on May 28, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    Chip cars are useless make old type of cars. Stop unnecessary overengineering, it has made driving a headache.



  14. Danny Palmer on May 28, 2022 at 12:43 pm

    No more distributor means no more running cars!



  15. Jad on May 28, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    Cars nowadays have too much technology in them anyway to be practical. Why do you need to navigate several infotainment pages to change radio channel if it can easily be done by a dial? Why do we need power seats when a simple lever does the same job?



  16. Julie Gaucin on May 28, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    My heart is with the people in sales as well 😞 they have families to take care of and some of them have made car sales their careers



  17. Tom Davis on May 28, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    Ford Chevy GMC Etc are built so poorly nowadays vs really old school cars y’all suck they are so poorly made it’s ridiculous but they now ask hundreds and thousands of dollars this is all by choice not chance



  18. zztop on May 28, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    These people don’t what all is going on, 60% of the chips are made in Taiwan. China is has been feuding with Taiwan for a while and is escalating. If a war breaks out there, we could be looking at a long chip shortage. I personally think China using Covid and may invade Taiwan next to further cripple America. Manufacturers should start making cars/trucks without chips, or make their own chips.



  19. TrailTimesZr2 on May 28, 2022 at 12:48 pm

    Theres one solution to the problem, go back to the good old carburetor.



  20. akhil gk on May 28, 2022 at 12:48 pm

    Jeep saying they are running out of chips
    Also jeep producing the grand wagoneer with a gazillion screens



  21. DontBanMeBroDontBanMe! on May 28, 2022 at 12:48 pm

    Good! New cars are depreciating assets anyway. I’ll just keep driving my 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid to…nowhere! I’m working from home. No need to drive much!



  22. Andy on May 28, 2022 at 12:50 pm

    Nearly 3000 in some high end models. We’re sorry but the lifestyle you’ve ordered is out of stock



  23. hope throughgrace on May 28, 2022 at 12:50 pm

    Just make cars from 98, 05 models, some of those are better made than the newer ones.



  24. jeff strong on May 28, 2022 at 12:52 pm

    US Commerce Dept proved that chip shortage was caused by Taiwanese TSMC. Taiwanese have been bad mouthing S Korean companies to win the US contracts with chip production. Same dirty play by communist China. TSMC was also using Chinese middle man to dry supplies to increase prices.



  25. esteban qrico on May 28, 2022 at 12:56 pm

    Maybe they playing the losses for the front page but reality is, they never made that much money… They just laughing at customers



  26. Michael G on May 28, 2022 at 12:56 pm

    Can they go back to the regular Cars. It’s like the car companies want us to go with their flow. those are useless things.



  27. Tom Waznis on May 28, 2022 at 12:57 pm

    Hyundai is joining Tesla in bringing chip production in-house.



  28. Arlie Riefer on May 28, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    How many chips are sitting on container ships while the Longshoremen don’t get ships unloaded?



  29. speshul on May 28, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    Biden is incompent.
    Democrats caused this.
    Back in the 1980’s the morons in Washington. Pushed industry offshore v
    Because it was dirty.
    America would only to clean jobs.
    Democrats caused this problem
    Do your research



  30. Craig on May 28, 2022 at 1:04 pm

    No harm if there was a reduction in cars. There’s way too many of them.



  31. Pete on May 28, 2022 at 1:05 pm

    Guess I’ll just keep my old Honda for a while



  32. Ted Chaffman on May 28, 2022 at 1:06 pm

    If you used robot arms and machines to efficiently and reliably produce your chips at home instead of abroad, you’d be dominating the industry right now. Reshoring supply chains is the future.



  33. strikerwoman on May 28, 2022 at 1:06 pm

    Yeah there’s about 30 reasons I’ll be driving 90s Honda’s until they can’t be driven anymore.

    Dirty Honda Kid for Life



  34. G on May 28, 2022 at 1:08 pm

    Just in Time, it a global issue effecting every industries who relied on JIT for so long e.g. fresh food in supermarket or critical medicine in hospital.



  35. WillowTM on May 28, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    Let their new cars sit on the lots. Not paying 45K for a Ford Ranger or 58K for a Silverado. Get outta here with your chip theory.



  36. Wheelie Blind on May 28, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    OK time to Frankencar the thing into what looks like the car from back to the future 3 lol.



  37. jascam1 on May 28, 2022 at 1:14 pm

    The U.S strangle hold/arm twisting on the countries that hold the patents/machinery for the chip foundrys is the main cause of chip shortages. If the U.S punitive actions against China were lifted, China have the knowledge and manpower to remedy the situation overnight.



  38. Robert Matthews on May 28, 2022 at 1:15 pm

    $50 billion for research and development?
    They already know how to make the things. How about 50 billion dollars for manufacturing?



  39. Jacob Smith on May 28, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    Because manual alternatives are too hard apparently



  40. Ettore Murano on May 28, 2022 at 1:17 pm

    Hey there! I’m doing a project at University on automotive chip-based supply chain disruption. Proper related material? Thank you!



  41. Adam W on May 28, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    Why not just create a company that makes the chips and stop dealing with 3rd party vendors do you this would stop Henry Ford he would start his own chip company



  42. Hobby Bobby on May 28, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    FJB



  43. Advait Thakur on May 28, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    The temporary solution from Auto companies were dangerous in response to chip shortage 🙄



  44. M. Vos on May 28, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    Want my 69 torino 428 cobrajet back.



  45. Keith's Classic Garage on May 28, 2022 at 1:21 pm

    Why can’t Detroit build chips? More jobs?



  46. Arthur on May 28, 2022 at 1:23 pm

    Boo hoo I can’t buy new car. I want new car. I don’t want car from last year.



  47. Velo1010 on May 28, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    The bright side is it’s a sellers market (from the standpoint of car owners). I went to get an oil change on my ‘19 Jeep Compass. They offers me way more than I owed. Then I picked up a very nice, used 2018 Grand Cherokee Limited.



  48. maldo72 on May 28, 2022 at 1:25 pm

    overpriced cars nice create a bubble… In three years those overpriced cars will be worthless….. thank you to whoever is running the show …… a great way to take advantage of people …. i hope this is a wake-up call to the American public that we need to start making stuff here again



  49. Loons FC on May 28, 2022 at 1:26 pm

    I need a new car, should i lease short term and buy once the prices have stabilised??



  50. Bobby Strunk on May 28, 2022 at 1:27 pm

    So all these vehicles will be considerably cheaper then right?