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▲ Employees inspecting a semiconductor factory (Photo = Internal DB) |
[에너지경제신문 오세영 기자] As the supply and demand of automotive semiconductors became disrupted, global automakers temporarily stopped production, leading to an emergency.
Domestic automakers, which have not yet suffered a shortage of semiconductor supply for vehicles, are also preparing for the prolonged delay in semiconductor supply and demand.
According to industry sources on the 22nd, Ford recently closed its Louisville, Kentucky sports utility vehicle (SUV) plant, and decided to suspend operation of the Saarlouis plant in Germany until the 19th of next month.
The Volkswagen Group predicted that production in the first quarter of China, North America, and Europe would be disrupted by 100,000 units due to a shortage of semiconductors. Audi within the group announced that it will postpone production of high-end models this month and leave 10,000 employees off.
Chrysler also temporarily suspended operations at its Ontario plant in Canada. The Mexican factory that produces Jeep has been delayed when it will be restarted. Japanese companies, such as Toyota and Nissan, announced plans to temporarily cut production as a result of the fire of semiconductor companies.
The reason for the disruption in the supply and demand of semiconductors is that, as demand for automobiles declined due to a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in the first half of last year, semiconductor companies reduced production for vehicles and focused on information technology (IT) products such as PCs and smartphones.
In the second half of last year, as demand for finished cars recovered faster than expected, automakers are accumulating inventory and increasing production. However, as production facilities such as consignment production of semiconductors become increasingly scarce, the production of semiconductors for vehicles cannot be rapidly increased. As a result, a temporary disagreement in supply and demand occurred.
Song Seon-jae, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, “From the perspective of semiconductor companies, there was little incentive to increase the supply of semiconductors for vehicles, which are relatively low margins, so they were forced to be subordinated to the supply plan.” There is also a prospect that there is,” he said.
However, it is reported that major domestic automakers and auto parts makers have not yet suffered a supply shortage to the point of causing problems in production.
It is known that Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have secured semiconductor inventory for vehicles for one to two months. Although it is not a problem for vehicle production right now, we are watching the situation where the semiconductor shortage is prolonged.
GM Korea is also currently in normal operation. However, it is known that GM headquarters is making efforts to secure supply lines from various angles, such as contacting Taiwan at the level of the GM headquarters, fearing the prolonged situation.
In general, one car is equipped with hundreds of automotive semiconductors, including a microcontroller unit (MCU).
In particular, as automobiles are becoming more environmentally friendly and electronically installed, the proportion of electronic systems is being adopted, increasing the demand for semiconductors per vehicle.
The automotive semiconductor market, worth $40 billion annually, is expected to grow by an average of 7% per year over the next five years. However, in order to resolve the supply shortage, production lines for 8-inch wafer processing must be increased, but semiconductor companies will be passive in producing 8-inch wafers, which have a relatively lower added value than 12-inch wafers, and supply and demand shortages are expected to continue in the mid to long term. .
The shortage of automotive semiconductors can lead to short-term cost hikes and production disruptions. If the price of semiconductors for automobiles rises by 10%, the production cost in automobiles increases by about 0.18%. Operating profit can decrease by about 1%.
Accordingly, the Korea Automobile Industry Association held an emergency conference with member companies and semiconductor industry officials on this day to share the situation and seek countermeasures.
Man-gi Chung, head of the Automobile Industry Association, said, “There are some domestic fabless (semiconductor design companies) that produce products like foreign products, so if you cooperate with a domestic foundry, you will have a little breath.” “We agreed that arranging companies to use our foundry is also a solution.”
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