The impact of chip shortages cannot be avoided in a short period of time. Although OEMs have taken various countermeasures, it is hoped that more car companies can show more sincerity to consumers at the terminal, and Consumers have more choices.
chip, automotive chip, semiconductor
Since the chip crisis broke out at the end of 2020, the automotive circle has been shrouded in the haze of chip shortages, and there is no obvious sign of improvement even now and in the short term. The lack of cores has a profound impact on the global auto industry, severely limiting global auto production capacity. According to incomplete statistics, due to the insufficient supply of automotive chips, the global automobile production will be reduced by about 11.31 million vehicles in 2021, of which the Chinese automobile market will reduce production by about 2.148 million vehicles, accounting for about 18.9%.
In February this year, the global chip delivery time increased by 3 days from the previous month, reaching 26.2 weeks, and buyers had to wait for more than half a year on average. In addition to the price increase caused by the lack of cores and the longer delivery cycle, there is also the launch of a "core-missing" version of the model. , and the solution of "get on the bus first, then make up the ticket later".
In order to ease the pressure on auto dealers' inventory shortage, some models of Ford will be shipped without all the chips installed, and the lack of chips will inevitably lead to the lack of some functions. It is reported that the newly produced Explorer sports utility vehicle will not have the function of controlling the temperature of the air conditioner in the rear seat, and can only rely on the driver and front passenger to adjust the temperature of the air conditioner.
In addition to delivering the "core-missing" version of the model, another solution for car companies is to deliver the chip first, and then re-install the chip. In October last year, Xiaopeng Motors officially released the delivery plan of Xiaopeng P5. Xiaopeng Motors said that due to the lack of millimeter-wave radar components, the production and delivery time of some models will be affected. In this regard, users can choose two. One of the delivery scenarios.
The first is to wait for the car to be picked up, without rights, and deliver it in order. The second is to choose software rights and interests, sign a supplementary agreement, and deliver them in sequence. It is expected that the retrofitting of radars will be started in batches from April this year. At the same time, in order to compensate car owners for the waiting period, Xiaopeng Motors will give these car owners free XPILOT (3.0/3.5) software, which is worth about 20,000-30,000 yuan.
It is worth mentioning that at the end of last year, Li Auto also announced the launch of a new delivery plan of "delivery first and then re-install the radar" due to a serious shortage of chips for millimeter-wave radar, which affected the production and on-time delivery of Li Li ONE. Users can choose the version with only three radars on a fixed delivery date, which will be supplemented later. The automatic merging and front crossing vehicle warning functions of three radar models are not available, and other driving assistance functions are normal; at the same time, Ideal provides three radar owners with a lifetime warranty and 10,000 Ideal Points. You can also choose to extend the delivery date and wait until the five radar models are completely off the assembly line before picking up the car.
A small chip has made many suppliers tight in supply, causing OEMs to reduce production or even stop production and raise prices, forcing OEMs to change their delivery plans. A series of operations has left consumers confused, and the cost of chip shortages is also directly passed on to consumers.
In May of last year, Tesla secretly removed the front passenger lumbar support adjustment function for the Model 3 and Model Y models. The new Teslas from abroad have not only removed the millimeter-wave radar, the reason is that they can use pure visual fusion to achieve high-level assisted driving, but also directly reduce the Type-C interface. In fact, many car companies have reduced the type-C interface.
In addition, in response to the intensifying chip crisis and to complete the delivery of orders in the fourth quarter of 2021, Tesla plans to "reduce" some Model 3 and Model Y made in China - removing two electronic control units in the vehicle bogie One of them, normally, a total of two electronic control units will be installed in the standard configuration of the above models.
Also because of the shortage of chips, BMW has put forward a product delivery warning reminder to customers. Some of its models will have “reduction” behavior, some will cancel the optional automatic driving assistance system Pro function, and some will not provide the opening of the trunk lid for the time being. Function.
Even Toyota has been cornered. In December last year, Toyota made it clear that “Toyota plans to use scratched or defective parts to manufacture cars without affecting vehicle performance and safety, hoping to alleviate the problem. The current car-making predicament." Toyota's definition of defective parts is not a product with functional defects, but only parts or chips with slight wear on the surface, and in the past, such parts would be scrapped or rebuilt. of. In the past, Toyota did not allow the use of such parts, but in the case of a shortage of auto parts, Toyota's move was also helpless.
In addition, SAIC Volkswagen also stated that due to the impact of the epidemic, the supply of car chips is tight, resulting in a shortage of radio-related parts. Some Lavida models produced have installed after-sales original accessories, and enjoy the same level of enjoyment as the original car. Quality guarantee.
Incomplete statistics, in addition to the above-mentioned companies, some models of GM, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai, Kia, and Peugeot also have different degrees of reduction, including functions including super cruise, AR navigation system, HUD head-up display, navigation, Digital instrument cluster, parking assist, smart rearview mirror, etc.
In addition to model reductions, price increases are also borne by consumers. Although the price hike at the beginning of the year is not unrelated to the reduction of subsidies and the shortage of battery raw materials, some price increases due to chip shortages are still the reasons mentioned by these car companies. For example, the ST L9369 chip is the core chip of the body electronic stability system produced by STMicroelectronics. Because the chips used in automobiles are more stringent than ordinary chips in terms of applicable temperature and other indicators, they are called vehicle-grade, and there are basically no alternatives. In the previous year, due to the impact of the epidemic in Southeast Asia and other places, the output of chip factories has been greatly reduced.
In fact, L9369 is not the only car chip whose price has risen sharply. At present, the price of most car chips is rising, and the increase is several times smaller, ranging from tens of yuan to hundreds of yuan or even thousands of yuan. .
Although many users have expressed strong dissatisfaction with this, they have to bear the burden of longer pick-up cycles for no reason, rising car prices, and even the dilemma of reducing allocations. As a commodity that is just needed, such a measure is very important to consumers. It is obviously not fair to say, but this move may really be a helpless move of last resort.
As we all know, the main reasons for the large-scale shortage of cores in the global auto industry are as follows: First, the recovery speed of the auto industry is faster than expected, and the demand for chips by car companies is growing rapidly, resulting in an imbalance between supply and demand; second, some chip suppliers are affected by the epidemic and other factors. Limit chip production capacity; finally, the electrification, intelligence and networking of automobiles continue to accelerate, further increasing the demand for chips in the automotive field.
In fact, in order to meet market demand, chip manufacturers have begun to increase chip shipments last year. In 2021, global automotive chip shipments will reach 52.4 billion, an increase of 30% over the same period in 2020, a new record for growth.
While chipmakers are constantly adjusting capacity supply to meet growing demand from the auto industry, the supply of automotive chips remains extremely tight. According to incomplete statistics, the shortage of chips will lead to a reduction of 643,100 vehicles in the world, and about 51,100 vehicles in the Chinese market, accounting for about 8%. Global light vehicle production is expected to decline by 3.5 million units in 2022.
Under this sudden chip shortage crisis, Chinese cars have been greatly affected. Behind this, in addition to the lack of global chip supply, the low localization rate of automotive-grade chips and the long-term high dependence of local car companies on chip imports are also one of the important factors that aggravate the impact of the chip crisis on domestic car companies.
In the case of chip shortage, seek alternative solutions to solve the problem of lack of chips, so that the market supply can be stabilized. Many big names in the automotive field have put forward their own views and strategies. For example: Chen Hong believes that the development of smart cars will lead to a rapid increase in the demand for automotive chips, especially large computing power chips. Therefore, it is hoped that through policy guidance and multi-party collaboration, a unified technical specification and standard for automotive-grade chips will be established, and a third-party testing and certification platform will be established. R&D, manufacturing and application capabilities of power chips.
Regarding the core-lack problem faced by the domestic auto market, Great Wall Motor President Wang Fengying suggested that the short-term priority should be given to solving the "lack-core" problem; the mid-term improvement of the industrial layout to achieve self-controllability; the establishment of a long-term mechanism for the introduction and training of industrial talents to achieve long-term sustainability developing.
In fact, alleviating the automotive chip crisis and accelerating the localization of automotive-grade chips are also one of the key tasks of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2022. At the end of February this year, Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that in addition to building an online supply and demand docking platform for automotive chips, smoothing the information channels for chip production and supply, and improving the upstream and downstream cooperation mechanisms in the industrial chain, the chip supply capacity will be further improved, including support for complete vehicles, zero Component and chip companies will collaborate and innovate to increase domestic chip production and supply in a steady and orderly manner. At the same time, it will also promote the localized production layout of multinational chip companies in China, thereby enhancing the stability and resilience of the automotive chip industry chain and supply chain.
In the same period of this year, 11 ministries and commissions including the National Development and Reform Commission also made it clear in the jointly issued smart car innovation development strategy, clearly proposing to build an industrial cluster of key components for smart cars, including automotive-grade chips, smart operating systems, and smart computing platforms.
In addition to providing policy assistance at the national level, domestic local companies are also actively deploying in the chip field and strengthening cooperation with chip companies. Among them, BYD began to deploy in the chip field and established BYD Semiconductor Company as early as 2005, and has built a relatively complete industrial chain.
After more than ten years of development, BYD has achieved self-sufficiency in IGBT automotive-grade chips, and even supplies to other car companies. The data shows that in the field of IGBT, BYD Semiconductor ranked second in the world among new energy passenger vehicle motor driver manufacturers for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020, and ranked first among domestic manufacturers, with a market share of 19%, second only to Infineon. .
As one of the leading car companies in China, SAIC Motor also has a layout in the field of automotive chips and has realized the localization of a variety of chips. According to the official disclosure of SAIC, as of now, SAIC has launched 75 chips in the field of automotive chips for localization and assembly into mass-produced vehicles.
In addition, Xiaopeng Motors has also entered the field of self-developed automotive chips before, and even the home appliance company Midea has entered into self-developed automotive chips across the border, but the progress is not satisfactory. However, according to the statistics of Tianfeng Securities, the current localization rate of automotive electronics in my country is still less than 1%, and the huge market space brings huge domestic substitution dividends for the companies involved.
In addition to choosing self-research by car companies, investing in or cooperating with local chip companies is also one of the important ways for car companies to enter the chip field, including GAC Group's investment in Yuexin Semiconductor, Horizon and other companies, and Weilai's strategic investment in Cambrian Xingge and Black Sesame. A chip company, Great Wall Motor and Horizon, cooperate with optical semiconductor company, etc.
Although domestic car companies have deployed the chip industry through self-research or cooperation with chip companies, it is still necessary for companies to continuously complete technological accumulation, breakthroughs and time precipitation to achieve independent and controllable supply of automotive chips.
The chip crisis is also an important lesson for automakers. Automakers need to establish a more open and equal partnership with chip foundries so that they can respond flexibly when faced with emergencies.
On October 20 last year, Geely's Yigatong Technology and Arm China jointly established core engine technology, which mainly focuses on the research and development and mass production cooperation in the field of smart cockpit, autonomous driving and other automotive chips; since February this year, Great Wall Motor and SAIC It has successively announced a strategic cooperation with Horizon.
In a word, automobiles and chips are never a single entity, but to form a closer common development pattern.
There are different opinions about this chip crisis: Intel CEO Patch Gelsinger believes that the supply and demand balance of chips may not be achieved until 2023; Infineon Ploss also believes that the crisis will continue in 2022.
What will the next few years be like? No one can predict the future. Whether it is a car manufacturer or a chip manufacturer, they are playing games from their respective positions and have subjective interest demands.
