Pass the Chips: VW Group Demands More Semiconductors for Europe
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Once again, the consequences of managing a supply chain solely to optimize cost become evident. China has played this principle to the utmost, as it has become -- one way or another -- the lowest cost producer of all kinds of things. The supply chain cost optimizers shift to Chinese supply, and other supply dries up. And then . . . I'm not saying that this is the case with chips and China . . . not yet. But it will be unless the pencil-heads figure out how to add a value for supply chain diversity into their spreadsheets. As the sole-sourced products become increasingly sophisticated, it becomes increasingly difficult to develop alternate supply quickly. It's not like inventing fracking to break the mid-east petroleum monopoly. Back in the antediluvian days, that was the reason for vertical integration. It minimized the risk of supply chain disruption, but it was not the most cost-effective.
Just like in the 1960s, where the West became over dependent on Middle East oil, and became an easy embargo target, nowadays it has become over dependent on Far East electronics.