Every reporter: Duan Siyao Every editor: Pei Jianru
Affected by the global chip shortage, more and more car brands are experiencing a "chip shortage."
A few days ago, a suspected internal document from FAW-Volkswagen Audi to its franchised dealers showed that due to insufficient production capacity of remote key chips, only one remote key and one mechanical key will be provided for some models when delivered starting from July 5 Teeth, affected vehicles can be identified by the new device number "SOP". After production capacity is restored, the FAW-Volkswagen Audi Sales Division will promptly reissue the remote control key action notice, and the dealer will deliver the second remote key to the user.
"Yesterday, our store received a notice. The manufacturer said that it was due to insufficient production capacity of remote control key chips. Currently, only two models of Audi A4L and Q5L are temporarily affected in the store." On July 9, An Audi in Chaoyang District, Beijing The 4S store salesperson told the " Daily Economic News " reporter.
Deliveries affected will return to normal as soon as next month
The above-mentioned internal documents show that vehicles affected by insufficient remote key chip production capacity include Audi A4L, Q5L, Q5L Sportback, A6L, A6L PHEV, and CKD e-tron models. At present, many Audi 4S stores in Beijing, Chengdu and other places have been notified.
Picture source: Daily Economic News Data chart
According to the reporter's understanding, the delivery problem of Audi due to "core shortage" affects different models in different regions and different 4S stores. "Only sedan models such as the Audi A4L are affected in our store, while models like the new Q5L, which have just been replaced and launched shortly, still have a few existing cars." A salesperson at an Audi 4S store in Fangshan District, Beijing, told reporters.
A salesperson at an Audi 4S store in Chengdu also said that his store has all models of cars on hand as before, but the delivery of subsequent orders will be affected, and they can only provide one remote control key and one mechanical key tooth. , and then wait for the manufacturer's notification before giving the second remote control key.
reporters learned from sales staff at several Audi 4S stores that the delivery problem due to insufficient production capacity of remote control key chips will return to normal at the earliest next month or in September at the latest.
In response to this matter, a reporter from "Daily Economic News" also asked FAW-Volkswagen Audi for verification, but as of press time, the other party had not responded.
In order to deal with the adverse effects caused by the insufficient production capacity of remote control key chips, some Audi 4S stores have begun to take measures. "After the manufacturer's notice came out yesterday, the store began sorting out orders and successively informed some customers who had already ordered cars of the situation." said the above-mentioned salesperson at an Audi 4S store in Chengdu.
The chip shortage problem is expected to be fully solved in the first quarter of next year
It is not just the Audi brand. Since this year, car companies including Volkswagen , Toyota , Nissan , Ford, Weilai, Great Wall and other car companies have been affected by the "chip shortage" Troubled by problems.
Tesla CEO Musk said in June this year: "Our biggest challenge is the supply chain, especially microcontroller chips (MCU). This has never happened before, and concerns about insufficient supply have caused every company to They are all placing excessive orders.”
With the continuing impact of the shortage of semiconductor chips , some countries have already lowered their growth expectations for automobile production this year. On July 5, local time, the German Automobile Industry Association said that it had lowered its production growth forecast this year to 3% from the previous 13%. It is expected that Germany will produce 3.6 million vehicles this year, a decrease of 400,000 vehicles from the previous forecast. .
Image source: Visual China
As the world's largest market for new car production and sales, the Chinese auto market is also plagued by a shortage of automotive chips. According to data from the Passenger Car Association, in June, the retail sales of my country's passenger car market were 1.575 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 5.1%; the wholesale volume of manufacturers was 1.531 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 10.2%.
"Unfavorable factors such as the uneven entry and exit of joint venture car dealers due to the chip shortage, the matching of order demand and the imbalance of existing inventory are transmitted to the retail terminal, resulting in a weak retail sales performance of the domestic auto market in June." National Passenger Cars Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Joint Association of Automobile Market Information, believes that starting from July, the impact of the chip shortage on the domestic auto market will gradually diminish.
Market research firm IHS Markit expects the automotive chip shortage to ease slightly starting in the third quarter of this year. On the one hand, this is because automobile manufacturers have flexibly formulated production plans in response to chip shortages; on the other hand, because semiconductor manufacturers that suspended production due to power outages, natural disasters and other reasons in the first half of the year will also resume production in the second half of the year, thus easing chip shortage.
It is understood that Japan's Renesas Electronics has restarted the factory that was closed due to the fire, and the factory's shipments returned to normal levels in July. In addition, NXP factories that were closed due to heavy snow and cold conditions have restarted production in April. IHS Markit further predicts that automotive chip supply will fully return to normal in the first quarter of 2022.
Daily Economic News
