The lack of chips will cause carmakers higher losses than expected

The lack of chips will cause carmakers higher losses than expected. Problems with a shortage of electronic components may cost the global automotive industry this year more than previously thought. The shortage of chips will reduce world car production this year by approximately 3.9 million vehicles, estimates the consulting company Alix Partners. The value of these cars, which will not be produced, is about USD 110 billion (EUR 91 billion), which is almost double the forecasts at the end of January. This will be greatly reflected in car sales numbers, said Alix Partners manager Marcus Kleinfeld. Manufacturers will, of course, reduce stocks, partly offsetting this negative development. The automotive industry has been struggling with chip shortages for several months. Large chipmakers first switched to semiconductor consumer electronics during the corona crisis to meet the increased demand. To this were added production outages in Japan and the USA. Currently, the shortage of semiconductors is a global problem, and new investments by their manufacturers in increasing capacity will take some time to show. The Volkswagen Group expects to produce 100.00 fewer cars in the first quarter due to a lack of chips. The negative impact may be even greater in the current quarter. Electronic components are also missing from Daimler, BMW and other car manufacturers around the world. The American concern Ford estimates that the lack of chips will cause losses of around $ 2.5 billion.