In response to this, CCTV Finance "Economic Information Network" interviewed the public relations department of Volkswagen Group (China). During the interview, Volkswagen China responded that the “lack of cores” was due to the interruption of chip supply for certain automotive electronic components, which would cause some car production to face interruption, which was inconsistent with the “stop production” news that was transmitted online. Moreover, according to the content of Volkswagen China’s response, “customer delivery of related vehicles has not been affected”.
According to relevant information, the "chips for certain automotive electronic components" mentioned by Volkswagen China will mainly affect the production of ESP (Electronic Stability Program System) and ECU (Electronic Control Unit) on-board computers. This means that as long as the models equipped with ESP and ECO will encounter production problems.
At the same time, this also releases a signal to the market: Volkswagen China's "core shortage" is due to its large car production and sales, which makes the impact of this chip shortage more obvious to Volkswagen. In the future, if the shortcomings of chip supply are not resolved, more car companies will face the problem of "some models will be discontinued." Why does
suddenly appear "chip supply shortage"? Through Volkswagen China's "core shortage" incident, it was discovered that the suppliers of this chip product are Continental and Bosch two component suppliers. Under the influence of the epidemic this year, the production capacity of chip manufacturing plants in mainland China and Bosch has been hindered. Moreover, since 2017, with the expansion of production capacity of wafer foundries in various countries, the shortage of silicon wafers, the raw material for chips, has been exposed, which has also limited the progress of chip manufacturing to a certain extent.
In addition, with the popularization of intelligent products, new energy vehicles, smart home appliances, communication base stations and other fields have to rely on chips for a long time. With limited production capacity and inventory reserves, the two companies must not only provide chip supply for the automotive industry, but also provide chip supply for other industries. This "one-to-many" supply-demand relationship has also intensified the contradiction between chip supply and demand.
There was news last year that Bosch will invest 1.1 billion US dollars to build a second wafer (a crystal material for manufacturing semiconductors) manufacturing plant. The new investment will double Bosch's chip output from 2021. The main reason for Bosch, the world's largest automotive supplier, to expand its semiconductor business is the increasing market demand for chips.
According to Bosch's forecast in 2019: as the degree of autonomy of the car is higher, the more sensors are needed on the vehicle. It is estimated that in the next five years or so, the average number of sensors used by each car may reach 40- 60. This requires chip technology to evolve to a higher level, driving so many sensors with higher computing power in the future. From a comprehensive point of view, this highlights many problems after the "core shortage".
First of all, when the supply of silicon wafers, the raw material for chips, continues to be in short supply, the resulting chip manufacturing costs will continue to increase. Car companies that use these chips have to recover manufacturing costs by increasing the unit price of models, or control costs by simply matching other aspects of the vehicle. No matter which way it is implemented, it is not friendly for consumers to buy a car.
Secondly, relevant data shows that although the demand for automotive chips continues to increase, the proportion of chips independently developed and produced by my country accounts for less than 10%. Think of new energy vehicles that have high requirements for chips, and new energy vehicles are an opportunity for the Chinese automobile industry to "overtake". Assuming that overseas companies now stop supplying chips to China's new energy companies, it is bound to cause a big blow to the development of China's auto market.
Finally, it extends to the development of China's semiconductor industry. According to incomplete statistics, nearly 10,000 companies across the country have switched to semiconductors this year. Behind the "Great Leap Forward" is the temptation of huge subsidies from the country. Previously, according to Bloomberg News, the country will invest 9.5 trillion yuan to support companies that subsidize chip manufacturing. In addition, the Science and Technology Innovation Board has also given the semiconductor industry a lower threshold, making it easier for these companies to obtain approval for listing, and it is easier to raise more funds. But this alsoIndulging a lot of mixed companies to squeeze the "semiconductor" enthusiasm, trying to get a share of it, not only disrupting the market order, but also wasting national resources.
thus discovered that while Volkswagen’s “lack of cores” warned the global auto market, it also sounded the alarm for China’s new energy auto market and semiconductor industry. The alarm bell sounded in the "curve overtaking" track of China's automobile industry, also in the process of China's chip development, and even more so in the transformation of China's manufacturing industry to a high-end technology industry.
Fortunately, the alarm bell rings long, and it is not too late.
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This article comes from the author of Autohome, and does not represent the viewpoint of Autohome.
