The tight supply of automotive chips has caused some "headaches" for global automakers.

Recently, Ford, Toyota and many other auto companies have publicly stated that they will adjust production capacity by reducing production to deal with chip supply problems.

　　my country is a big country in the production and sales of automobiles, and the impact of automotive-grade chips on my country's automobile industry has attracted much attention.

Under the turmoil, what is the situation facing the domestic automobile industry?

How to maintain the stability of the supply chain?

　　Automobile industry encounters "core" matter

　　Since the end of 2020, the problem of tight chip supply has continued to ferment, and the global automotive industry has encountered "core" issues.

　　Ford Motor Company recently announced that due to chip shortages, it is expected to reduce production of various models in the first quarter.

Many car companies such as Toyota and Honda also encountered chip supply problems.

　　Qiao Yueshan, director of the Department of Electronic Information of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that electrification, networking, and intelligence have become the development trend and trend of the automobile industry, and semiconductors are the key to supporting the upgrade of the "three modernizations" of automobiles.

At present, demand for computing chips, power chips, and storage chips continues to increase.

Among them, the cycle of computing power demand upgrade has been shortened from two years to half a year.

　　According to Zhang Xin, the managing director of SDIC China Merchants Investment Management Co., Ltd., automotive chips cover multiple dimensions, such as mid-end and high-end, from manufacturing process to performance, and production usually has a long lead time.

The epidemic has caused many car companies to reduce their production from the beginning of 2020, and the product scheduling of chip companies is conservative, and then the rapid recovery of the market drives a short-term increase in demand, resulting in a mismatch between supply and demand.

　　The "core" things encountered by the automotive industry also have the influence of industry trends.

　　"In the future, cars are computers on four wheels." said Yu Kai, founder of the domestically-produced AI chip manufacturer Horizon. The upgrade of vehicles and the transformation of the industry from oil to electricity have accelerated the industry’s demand for chips. To a certain extent, the supply is tight.

　　Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesperson Huang Libin said earlier that the epidemic has driven online demand, not only for automotive chips, but also for the production of major integrated circuit manufacturing lines around the world.

　　Enlightenment behind the "core" matter

　　The "core" event brings enlightenment.

　　Dong Yang, co-chairman of the China Automotive Chip Industry Innovation Strategic Alliance, believes that the global automotive semiconductor supply chain has a certain degree of tension. Although it is currently seen as a short-term phenomenon caused by market reasons, it is also necessary to attach great importance to the long-term problems of industrial development.

　　"For example, the scale of my country's automobile chip industry accounts for the global proportion, which is still very low compared with the proportion of the entire automobile industry. Automobile chips urgently need to be vigorously developed to build a large domestic cycle." He said.

　　The reporter learned that conventionally, automakers do not purchase chips directly, but purchase motherboards with embedded chips from Tier 1 suppliers.

The number of global Tier 1 suppliers is limited and relatively fixed.

　　Zhang Li, director of the China Electronics Information Industry Development Research Institute, introduced that automotive semiconductors have strict performance requirements, which raises the threshold of the industry and allows semiconductor companies, parts companies, and vehicle companies to form a fixed and close relationship.

　　Guo Shougang, deputy director of the Equipment Industry Department I of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that my country's auto industry has made great progress, but the independent supply of auto chips needs to be improved, and there are still shortcomings in the development of the industry.

　　The chip "turmoil" has increased the willingness of vehicle companies to demand for the domestic supply chain, and has also made domestic auto chip companies aware of the synergistic linkage with market terminals, speeding up product certification and matching supply and demand.

　　"Domestic companies have gained certain strength after years of development. Car companies and chip companies should strengthen cooperation, overcome difficulties together, and promote the autonomy of the industrial chain." Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, suggested that relevant departments should strengthen the coordination of supply and demand. At the same time, policy support will be given to the design and production of automotive-grade chips, including packaging and testing, to further stabilize the domestic supply chain.

　　Strengthen the supply chain to ease the tight supply and demand

　　At present, the consumer electronics and intelligent networked automobile industries are accelerating the development, driving the growth of manufacturers in various links of the local industry chain.

　　According to the data of the professional version of Tianyancha, there are currently nearly 15,000 automotive chip-related companies in my country that include "automobiles" as well as "chips and semiconductors" and whose status is active, surviving, moving in, or moving out.

In 2020, the annual registration volume of my country's automotive chip-related companies will increase rapidly.

Subject to industrial and commercial registration, my country will add more than 5,000 auto chip-related companies in 2020, an increase of 187.4% over 2019.

　　Accelerating the improvement and upgrading of the supply chain will not only ease the tight supply and demand, but also help the high-quality development of the industry.

　　On February 26, a seminar on the supply and demand of automotive semiconductors hosted by the Electronic Information Department and the Equipment Industry Department I of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was held in Beijing.

　　At the meeting, the "Automotive Semiconductor Supply and Demand Docking Manual" compiled by the China Automotive Chip Industry Innovation Strategic Alliance and other institutions under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the First Division of Equipment Industry was officially released.

The "Handbook" contains 568 products from 59 semiconductor companies, covering 10 categories such as computing chips, control chips, and power chips. It also contains 1,000 product demand information from 26 auto and parts companies.

　　Qiao Yueshan said that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will actively guide and support the development of the automotive semiconductor industry and support enterprises to continuously improve the supply capacity of integrated circuits.

At the same time, we will strengthen the supply chain construction through the automotive semiconductor supply and demand docking platform, increase production capacity allocation, improve the efficiency of the circulation link, and provide strong support for the stable and healthy development of the industry.

　　Chen Shihua believes that as various policies and corresponding corporate measures take effect, the tight supply of automotive chips in the second quarter will be eased to a certain extent.