CHIPS WITH NOTHING

IS IT JUST ME OR ARE FACTORY CAR WHEELS GETTING UGLIER?

Just wondering if you had any idea of when the semiconductor shortage was going to show signs of easing?

I hear some car makers are stripping content out of cars in order to ship them without features like rear cross-traffic alert or premium stereos. However, it seems to have really dealt a big blow to McLaren, who were originally going to launch the Artura back in 2020 and it’s still not in showrooms.

Surely there’s an element of profiteering by strangling supply?

Leigh Bartram, via Facebook There’s a whole host of strange and compounding issues as far as the auto industry is concerned. Most carmakers lowered their hardware orders at the start of the pandemic, reasonably assuming sales would crash. They didn’t. Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger reckons the supply issue will last into 2023, with COVID badly affecting supply chains that could never cope with a +20 per cent demand year on year. Expect a 24 month duration, similar to the 20082009 chip shortage. Volkswagen, GM, Ford and Hyundai all believe the semiconductor shortage will ease slightly in the second half of this year, but automotive chip producers