In an effort to battle the ongoing chip shortage that is affecting its automotive production, Hyundai has announced that it will be developing its own semiconductors. The move not only aims to produce sufficient supply of chips for its own use, but also to reduce overall reliance on third-party chip manufacturers.
According to Hyundai Motor global chief operating officer Jose Munoz, the South Korean automaker will assign the development of the in-house chip to its affiliate, Hyundai Mobis. For those unfamiliar, the subsidiary company is responsible for manufacturing parts for Hyundai’s car production, such as front-end modules, electronic stability control, multimedia systems, and so on. Unfortunately, no further details regarding the in-house semiconductor or its expected date of production were mentioned.
“The [chip] industry is reacting very, very fast,” Munoz said. “But also in our case, we want to be able to develop our own chips within the group, so we are a little bit less dependent in a potential situation like this.”
The Hyundai COO also added that the company had decided not to cut orders for its cars during the pandemic, seeing that the Asian markets recovered more strongly than expected. The automaker aims to deliver vehicles at the level of its original business plan in the fourth quarter of 2021, and offset some of its production losses next year.
(Source: Reuters)
