Hyperdrive
Missing Chips Snarl Car Production at Factories Worldwide
- Chipmakers near full capacity as phone, gadget demand rises
- Lower in pecking order, automakers left waiting for supplies
While the newest cars require more chips, so do the latest consumer gadgets.
Photographer: Angel Garcia/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
More than a year after its outbreak, the coronavirus keeps finding new ways to hit carmakers.
After first wiping out auto demand, the virus is now hindering parts supply: chips used in vehicles are harder to come by because semiconductor manufacturers allocated more capacity to meet soaring demand from consumer-electronics makers such as Apple Inc.