Photo: Ford
The semiconductor struggle continues all over the world, and unfortunately, after a short recovery recorded in late 2021, carmakers are now returning to painful decisions to reduce the disruptions in their daily operations.
Ford is the latest big name to announce a production halt, simply because the carmaker doesn’t have enough chips to install on the cars it makes.
Unfortunately, the victim this time is none other than the Ford Mustang, as the affected facility is the Flat Rock Assembly Plant.
The company says the production suspension would only take place this week, with all operations to return to normal next week.
Unfortunately for the auto sector, Ford’s new announcement is pretty much the sign the industry should prepare for another wave of the chip crisis. More carmakers are very likely to turn to similar decisions rather sooner than later, especially as the global chip inventory continues to be extremely constrained.
Analysts originally projected the chip shortage would ease up in 2022, but given the health crisis doesn’t seem to come to an end either, foundries across the world continue to deal with government restrictions and lockdowns affecting their manufacturing operations.
This is the reason some carmakers are now investing in a completely new approach that should help them avoid a chip nightmare in the long term. More and more companies are willing to handle the chip production themselves, including Ford and General Motors.
Ford, for example, will work together with GlobalFoundries on the development of chips, while General Motors intends to design three families of microcontrollers that would eventually be installed on its vehicles.
Of course, this ambitious plan can’t be implemented overnight, so for the time being, carmakers out there continue to struggle with the global lack of chips.
Expect more companies to announce similar production halts at their main factories, especially as the supply chain is still impacted at the global level.
Unfortunately, the victim this time is none other than the Ford Mustang, as the affected facility is the Flat Rock Assembly Plant.
The company says the production suspension would only take place this week, with all operations to return to normal next week.
Unfortunately for the auto sector, Ford’s new announcement is pretty much the sign the industry should prepare for another wave of the chip crisis. More carmakers are very likely to turn to similar decisions rather sooner than later, especially as the global chip inventory continues to be extremely constrained.
Analysts originally projected the chip shortage would ease up in 2022, but given the health crisis doesn’t seem to come to an end either, foundries across the world continue to deal with government restrictions and lockdowns affecting their manufacturing operations.
This is the reason some carmakers are now investing in a completely new approach that should help them avoid a chip nightmare in the long term. More and more companies are willing to handle the chip production themselves, including Ford and General Motors.
Ford, for example, will work together with GlobalFoundries on the development of chips, while General Motors intends to design three families of microcontrollers that would eventually be installed on its vehicles.
Of course, this ambitious plan can’t be implemented overnight, so for the time being, carmakers out there continue to struggle with the global lack of chips.
Expect more companies to announce similar production halts at their main factories, especially as the supply chain is still impacted at the global level.
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