The shortage of chips will cost the European car industry around 100 billion euros in 2021 and this year, credit insurer Allianz Trade has calculated.
The chip shortage has resulted in approximately 18 million fewer vehicles being produced worldwide. According to Allianz, the European automakers were particularly hard hit.
The experts at the credit insurer argue that the industry has partly brought the problems on itself. ‘To absorb the blow of corona, car manufacturers made significant cutbacks. Among other things, by minimizing stocks and orders for semiconductors,” says Allianz.
For 600 euros worth of chips in a car
As a result, chip manufacturers sought refuge elsewhere, and production was geared to strong markets such as computers and data centres. ‘Allianz notes that when the car market picked up again, there was only a limited amount of chips available for the car industry’.
The insurer foresees that the supply of chips in Europe will remain uncertain for a long time. On average, there are about 600 euros worth of chips in a car, more than doubling in the past ten years. ‘That trend will only continue’, says Allianz.