The shortage of chips continued to worsen in the second half of the year

Since the beginning of the automotive industry, the ultimate impact of chip shortage is the automotive industry. In the first half of the year, there were signs that it seemed to pick up and would soon return to normal. Then, in June, due to the intensification of chip shortage, automobile production and sales suddenly braked. Volkswagen said that the chip shortage is bound to continue to worsen in the second half of the year.

In June, the booming automobile production and sales suddenly stepped on the brake. On July 9, China Automobile Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as China Automobile Industry Association) released the latest production and sales data. In June, domestic automobile production and sales reached 1943000 and 2015000 respectively, down 4.8% and 5.3% compared with the previous month, and down 16.5% and 12.4% compared with the previous month. In fact, in May this year, the domestic automobile production and sales decreased slightly month on month and year-on-year, while the production and sales decreased further in June.

Chen Shihua, Deputy Secretary General of China Automobile Industry Association, said that the decline in automobile production and sales in May and June was related to many factors. Among them, passenger cars are mainly affected by factors such as insufficient chip supply and rising raw material prices, while commercial vehicles are related to the switching of emission standards.

Some media revealed that the impact of chip shortage on automobile production and sales continues. Since May, the chairman of the company has personally led the team to communicate with the chip company to ensure the smooth supply of automotive chips.

The global semiconductor shortage affecting automobile production will worsen in the next six months. Volkswagen said in a statement on Friday that the impairment of assets caused by semiconductor shortage may continue in the second half of this year. The company said it would reduce most of the impact of the chip shortage by shifting chip supply to a more profitable model.

The warning marks a huge change in industry expectations. Automakers are optimistic that the chip crisis in the automotive industry will bottom out in the second quarter and will gradually improve in the next six months.

Alixpartners, a consulting firm, previously warned that the shortage of chips could lead to a loss of $110 billion for the global automotive industry, an increase of 81.5% over the $61 billion loss predicted in January this year. In terms of production, alixpartners predicts that the global automobile production will drop by 3.9 million this year, an increase of 77% over the 2.2 million predicted in January this year.

According to the financial report data, the public's operating profit in the first six months of this year was 11 billion euros ($13.03 billion). The company's sales performance in Europe is strong, and the profit margin of new car sales is higher than that in other parts of the world. However, due to the deterioration of the chip crisis, the public's forecast prospect for the second half of the year is relatively weak.

At present, the public is actively promoting the expansion of electric vehicle battery production. The company will introduce a new unified battery concept into its models from 2023 and use it in 80% of the company's global electric vehicle lineup by 2030.

In terms of battery production, the public's goal is to produce most batteries in-house, and plans to build six Super factories in Europe by 2030. The capacity of each plant will reach 40gwh, bringing the group's total battery capacity in Europe to 240gwh.