Global Auto Chip Supply Will Return to Normal This Quarter or Next, SAIC Chief Says
Dou Shicong
DATE:  Jul 01 2021
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Global Auto Chip Supply Will Return to Normal This Quarter or Next, SAIC Chief Says Global Auto Chip Supply Will Return to Normal This Quarter or Next, SAIC Chief Says

(Yicai Global) July 1 -- The global automotive chip shortage is expected to ease this month, and return to normal by the third or the fourth quarter, according to the chief of China's largest automaker SAIC Motor.

The unparalleled lack of semiconductors has improved communication between chipmakers and car manufacturers, the Paper reported, citing Chairman Chen Hong who was talking at the Shanghai-based firm's stockholder meeting yesterday.

Since last year, manufacturers of cars and consumer electronics have been struggling to secure enough chips amid the global Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the limitations, China’s auto production could fall as much as 20 percent this year, compared with that of 2019, according to Fang Yinliang, senior partner at Roland Berger.

The tight chip supply has hurt Saic's wholesale figures. The affected number is roughly 600,000 units, but the impact is little on retail sales, according to President Wang Xiaoqiu. Wholesales should increase after the chip situation gets back to normal in the third quarter, he added.

The carmaker is preparing to use its own chips. In February, Saic and Beijing-based chip unicorn Horizon Robotics penned an agreement to develop smart chips for vehicles.

Saic has been stronger than many of its peers this year. From January to May, the firm sold 946,000 vehicles, more than any other Chinese carmaker. The number had risen almost 39 percent from a year ago, which was higher than the sector's growth, according to data recently disclosed by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi
 

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Keywords:   chips,SAIC Motor