Factory Shutdown

[Rogermathisen]

So, according to what I've heard, the Telluride factory has shut down for now due to part shortages! 🤷‍♂️😩🥺😤🤔🧐

 

[Texas Stan]

I just looked it up. The plant in Georgia shut down for two days to allow some chips to arrive. They did the same thing a few months ago. It’s a real problem, especially since I just decided I want to buy a new Telluride.

 

[Bowda1246]

Just FYI, I read a couple of interesting articles about auto manufacturing chips. I will try to get this accurate from memory. The chip manufacturers are more than a little angry at auto manufacturers because chip technology has progressed rapidly in the last 5-10 years. However, auto manufacturers are still using, and ordering, outdated chips. They have not kept up with the technology, probably because of the massive expense at redesigning components. That is one of the reasons why there is such a crisis in the auto manufacturing world. The companies that produce chips don't want to produce the outdated chips anymore and want big auto to keep up with the times. That is a grossly paraphrased account. If I got anything wrong, feel free to correct me. I can handle it. The wife does it all the time.

 

[Texas Stan]

That makes a whole hell of a lot of sense (the chip technology and what your wife does, mine does it to me all the time, too lol). The microchip technology in cars has always been behind the times as far as state of the art, or even slightly less than state of the art.

 

[Billalex70]

Just FYI, I read a couple of interesting articles about auto manufacturing chips. I will try to get this accurate from memory. The chip manufacturers are more than a little angry at auto manufacturers because chip technology has progressed rapidly in the last 5-10 years. However, auto manufacturers are still using, and ordering, outdated chips. They have not kept up with the technology, probably because of the massive expense at redesigning components. That is one of the reasons why there is such a crisis in the auto manufacturing world. The companies that produce chips don't want to produce the outdated chips anymore and want big auto to keep up with the times. That is a grossly paraphrased account. If I got anything wrong, feel free to correct me. I can handle it. The wife does it all the time.

I read the same type article in Forbes. Automakers need to get with the times but, that can’t happen overnight.

 

[Mech Aggie 76]

Due to the extreme safety validation requirements (think air bag chips; you have a single chip that if it works incorrectly the liability is millions of dollars), long design times, and in general the simplicity of car computer controls compared to many other advanced control systems it makes little sense to invest in high end CPUs compared to well established chips. Today there are chip companies like NXP, Renesas TI that focus on automotive chips. Renesas had 30% of the chip market when a huge fire wiped out one of their major auto chip plants. The auto manufacturers had cancelled many chip orders in beginning of COVID when demand cratered. The chip companies shifted their supply to other customers, now the car companies are trying to get their orders back. Eventually the supply chain will work itself back to somewhat normal. FYI: I have been in the chip business for over 30 years)