Photo: GM
As if the currently super-constrained chip inventory wasn’t already a big problem, the massive floods that hit Malaysia earlier this week seem to be making the whole thing much, much worse.
Several large semiconductor companies operating production facilities in Malaysia are now forced to suspend production at several key plants due to the damages caused by the recent floods.
BE Semiconductor, one of the biggest names in the chip industry and the company now eyeing a massive expansion in the U.S., has already halted the production at its plant in Shah Alam. Panasonic will reportedly suspend all operations at the factory near Kuala Lumpur for at least a week.
Daihatsu Motor, currently running production operations as part of the Perodua joint venture, has also been forced to shut down two facilities following the floods that hit Malaysia this week.
Unfortunately for the automotive industry, all the optimistic forecasts originally suggesting a strong recovery in 2022 are slowly but surely proving inaccurate. Many carmakers are still struggling with very limited chip inventories, and more turn to painful approaches to deal with the whole thing.
Earlier this week, Cadillac started selling select 2022 vehicles without parking assist systems, all because the company doesn’t have enough chips to install on new models.
BMW has also given up on touch-capable display for several new models, while General Motors removed heated seats from some vehicles, all in an attempt to reduce the number of chips they use on these cars.
Unfortunately, all forecasts trying to anticipate the end of the chip crisis appear to be nothing other than an optimistic guess, and right now, the struggle just seems to continue for carmakers out there.
It remains to be seen how big the impact of the Malaysian floods proves to be for the automotive industry, but all semiconductor companies are said to be working around the clock on resuming their operations.
BE Semiconductor, one of the biggest names in the chip industry and the company now eyeing a massive expansion in the U.S., has already halted the production at its plant in Shah Alam. Panasonic will reportedly suspend all operations at the factory near Kuala Lumpur for at least a week.
Daihatsu Motor, currently running production operations as part of the Perodua joint venture, has also been forced to shut down two facilities following the floods that hit Malaysia this week.
Unfortunately for the automotive industry, all the optimistic forecasts originally suggesting a strong recovery in 2022 are slowly but surely proving inaccurate. Many carmakers are still struggling with very limited chip inventories, and more turn to painful approaches to deal with the whole thing.
Earlier this week, Cadillac started selling select 2022 vehicles without parking assist systems, all because the company doesn’t have enough chips to install on new models.
BMW has also given up on touch-capable display for several new models, while General Motors removed heated seats from some vehicles, all in an attempt to reduce the number of chips they use on these cars.
Unfortunately, all forecasts trying to anticipate the end of the chip crisis appear to be nothing other than an optimistic guess, and right now, the struggle just seems to continue for carmakers out there.
It remains to be seen how big the impact of the Malaysian floods proves to be for the automotive industry, but all semiconductor companies are said to be working around the clock on resuming their operations.
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