For an industry built on the principles of precision and just-in-time manufacturing, the global semiconductor shortage of recent years was a seismic event. What began as a ripple in the supply chain during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly cascaded into a full-blown crisis, forcing car manufacturers worldwide to idle assembly lines, slash production targets, and fundamentally rethink their entire business model. The impact was profound, revealing the deep-seated vulnerabilities of a modern automotive world increasingly reliant on tiny, indispensable chips.
The Perfect Storm: Causes of the Shortage
The semiconductor crisis was not a single event but a perfect storm of converging factors. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, automakers, anticipating a sharp decline in consumer demand, drastically cut their orders for chips. At the same time, lockdowns and the shift to remote work fueled a massive surge in demand for consumer electronics, from laptops and smartphones …
View More The Unseen Driver: How the Semiconductor Shortage Derailed Automotive Production