The Biden Administration is beginning to see some signs of the semiconductor chip shortage easing up for automakers, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters this week.
Raimondo was quoted by Bloomberg as saying the Biden Administration is “starting to see some improvements,” with regard to semiconductor chip supply and that the Detroit Big Three have told her they are now getting “little bit more of what they need,” with regard to the chips.
In recent weeks, Raimondo has turned her attention toward the proposed $52 billion in funding to boost domestic chip production and research. The bill was passed by the Senate in June, but is still awaiting House approval. She told Bloomberg this week that the high-stakes bill needs to pass before the House recesses next month.
“What I say is we need to get this done this summer,” Raimondo said. “They can’t recess this August without having gotten this done.”
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, has said it will ramp up production of semiconductor chips by 60 percent before year’s end, which is expected to partially remedy some of the supply issues certain automakers are experiencing. TSMC also recently announced plans to build new plants in Japan and the United States.
In the meantime, GM continues to prioritize its chip supply for its full-size truck and SUV models, which are the most profitable vehicles in its portfolio. As a result, full-size trucks account for just one percent of the vehicle production that GM has lost out on due to the chip shortage.
The automaker has also begun shipping some vehicles without certain features in order to cut back on how many chips it uses. Some models will no longer be offered with wireless charging pads and HD Radio, while some trucks have been shipped without Active Fuel Management and Dynamic Fuel Management technologies installed.
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Comments
lol by the time the bill passes, funds are allocated, and funds put into practice where an end product is achieved, will be in two years and the whole shortage will have already been resolved for over a year
The idea of the government funding is two-fold, help with the current crisis, but also make sure we do not get into this situation again. The news cycle on this chip crisis is slow, things were better a few weeks ago, more recently things have become worse with Covid flaring up again in Asia where a lot of the chips are made. GM CFO made a comment last week, that the chip situation is a week by week, or even day by day problem, and things change quickly in both directions (good and bad). He said, GM is concerned about the Covid outbreaks in Asia causing further problems in Q3, and later into the year. Now we see the crossover plants closed currently, and GM removing wireless phone chargers from dozens of models and trims, in addition to other features removed prior, so the problem is far from in the past.
Can hardly be attributed to the present administration. Restrictions worldwide are diminishing. Therefore more production capacity in these Asian countries where these semi conductors come from. This has nothing to do with Washington D.C. Besides the bill that is proposed would take years for the USA to see benefits of domestic semi-conductor production. Lowercase gm might actually be able to fulfill people’s orders for other cars besides BOF trucks plus the big 3 SUVs.
We own a small AG tech business and have to source many items. Sometimes it is difficult to source but we can find what we need ahead of any surge or situation as we’ve had in the last year or so. You would think the multi-billion dollar carmakers would have been on top of this long before the “emergency”
Interesting that you say that, but do you know the parameters of the emergency? do you have a crystal ball? Do you know what part of the supply chain will be next to get hit by Covid flare ups, floods, fires, earthquakes, and exactly how long production will be down? Nope, so, your comment is just naive… There is no way for anyone to predict how the last 18 months would play out, most expected we would have a deep recession coming out of Covid shutdowns, and not the biggest boom in home and auto sales ever seen since WW2. Then on top of Covid, one of GM’s chip suppliers in Japan (Renesas) suffered a devastating fire that limited production for the last year. This is a global crisis, and nearly every manufacture is affected, not just in microchips, home builders have had trouble buying electrical components, and many other issues.
What I do know is sitting in front of a computer screen for 8 hours a day programming is the most unhealthy thing you can do to yourself. It’s called the new smoking. I know of an engineering company it’s called Pratt and Whitney. Before you graduate you can become an intern. By the time you get hired on(after you graduate) you will realize there is very steep pecking order of which you will be in the basement for years. 125K a year with student loan debt and a car payment (yes you have to drive to work every day) there won’t even be enough left to qualify for a condo in a safe neighborhood. Ramen will be on the daily menu. Donovan’s solution is over simplified.