Auto & Transportation

The chip shortage crisis in the automotive industry that began at the end of 2020 has not only failed to ease in the third quarter of this year as expected by the industry, but has intensified over time.

A number of automakers revealed to the "Securities Daily" reporter: "The new round of chip shortages that have erupted since July, the affected area and the degree of shortage have exceeded those at the end of last year and the second quarter of this year. Money customers, and some customers switch to domestic chips." From the perspective of automobile production, many auto companies, including Volkswagen, Honda, and Nissan, have nearly cut their output for three consecutive months.

"Now that the number of chips is produced, the number of cars is produced. The production and sales of cars in the next few months are completely dependent on the supply of chips." On September 10, Li Shaohua, deputy secretary general of the China Automobile Association, was interviewed by a reporter from the Securities Daily. Said that the current shortage of chips in the automotive industry has exceeded expectations.

At the same time, there are some illegal vendors and hot money groups maliciously snapping up chips in China, hoarding and driving up prices, causing the prices of some car chips to continue to rise. Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation (hereinafter referred to as “SAMR”) released a message on its official website that the Chengsheng”) and Shenzhen Yuchang Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Shenzhen Yuchang”) three auto chip distributors for driving up the price of auto chips were fined 2.5 million yuan.

Three companies fined 2.5 million yuan

According to the punishment information issued by the State Administration of Market Supervision, some illegal vendors and hot money groups maliciously snapped up chips in China, causing the prices of some car chips to continue to rise, with individual increases reaching 30 to 40 times, which seriously affected the orderly production and health of my country's auto industry develop. For this reason, in accordance with the "Price Law of the People's Republic of China", the State Administration of Market Supervision imposed administrative penalties on three dealerships for driving up the price of auto chips, and imposed a total fine of 2.5 million yuan.

According to the relevant person in charge of the State Administration of Market Supervision, after investigation, the three distributors of Shanghai Qiante, Shanghai Chengsheng and Shenzhen Yuchang significantly increased the price of some automotive chips. For example, the purchase price of chips less than 10 yuan was sold at a high price of more than 400 yuan, an increase. Up to 40 times. Under the conditions of a balance of supply and demand, the markup rate of auto chip traders is generally 7%-10%.

The General Administration of Market Supervision stated that the three distributors used the imbalance between the supply and demand of my country's automotive chips and the misconception that independent pricing was equivalent to arbitrary pricing. Not only could it not increase product supply and ease the contradiction between supply and demand, but it would create tension, causing parts manufacturers and car companies. Panic stocking in various links has exacerbated the imbalance between supply and demand and disrupted the order of market prices.

"Previously, the AKM (Japan Asahi Kasei Microelectronics Co., Ltd.) chip factory caught fire, which affected the price of chips. Everyone found that the product prices could be sold after they were several times higher. Therefore, the scope of chip speculation was gradually spreading, covering most cars. Chips, including Texas Instruments, NXP, Broadcom and other products, have become high-priced products." Some people in the chip industry who did not want to be named told reporters that in order to make huge profits by hoarding goods, some dealers even mortgaged their own products. Real estate.

The "core grab" battle is intensifying

At the beginning of this year, natural and man-made disasters such as the Blizzard in Texas in the United States and the Renesas fire in Japan caused many chip manufacturers to reduce or suspend production, and the overall "core shortage" of the automotive industry intensified. As of July this year, the local epidemic in Malaysia intensified, triggering a global chip production crisis.

"The North-South Volkswagen was disclosed at the beginning of the year that there was a large-scale reduction in production due to the shortage of ESP and steering chips." Sina Finance columnist Lin Shi said that Malaysia is the world's most important production place for the production, packaging, and testing of automotive-grade chips. In July The outbreak of the epidemic has caused many semiconductor manufacturers to suspend production in factories here, affecting the production of large quantities of ESP chips.

Since then, the chip crisis has spread rapidly. Dozens of car companies, including Volvo, GM, SAIC, Hyundai-Kia, Ford, NIO, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Honda, Porsche, etc., were forced to suspend or reduce production in stages, which is undoubtedly a blow to vehicle manufacturers. Is huge.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in August 2021, my country's automobile production and sales were 1.725 million and 1.799 million, down 7.4% and 3.5% month-on-month and 18.7% and 17.8% year-on-year. According to the latest statistics from the third-party data agency AFS, as of now, the global auto market has reduced production by 6.442 million vehicles due to chip shortages. It is expected that the annual reduction in production will rise to more than 7.65 million vehicles.

Who is more affected by the "lack of core"? Li Shaohua believes that the joint venture company adopts a stable and long-term procurement agreement in the global procurement system. Therefore, in the case of tight chip supply, basically foreign auto companies can only stop production; while independent brands will do everything possible. Looking for chips to ensure their own production, in this process, the advantages of independent brands are reflected.

However, he also said that through the competition in the first eight months, many chip resources have been exhausted in the circulation link, and the ability to restore upstream supply has not yet formed. The chip shortage has also appeared from the previous MCU chip shortage to other types of chips. Spread the situation. "So in the next step, the advantages of independent brands in chip resources will no longer be obvious, and we need to deal with them."

In fact, car companies have started the "core grab" battle early on. As early as early June this year, Volkswagen, Daimler, Toyota and other automakers took the lead in taking measures to grab chips. In addition to increasing chip inventory, they also actively signed long-term agreements with dealers to obtain stable supplies. Among them, Volkswagen is the first to change the just-in-time production method, so that the supply chain can maintain more inventory than before, and reduce the impact of temporary shortage of parts due to unexpected circumstances.

"If it were not because of insufficient chip supply, the monthly sales of one of our small new energy vehicles could have doubled." An insider from a self-owned brand car manufacturer told reporters that the company's leaders have already been sweeping goods around the world, and they will lead The team went to the chip suppliers and manufacturers to squat by themselves in order to buy as many chips as possible.

"The short-term chip shortage caused by the epidemic and other factors has exposed my country's deficiencies in key core technology reserves and supply chain control." said Ye Shengji, chief engineer and deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. "These problems and difficulties It requires vehicle and parts companies, including all relevant research institutes and universities and colleges to work together to deal with it."