Little by little, the worldwide shortage of microchips is abating and automakers are being forced to eliminate fewer and fewer vehicles from their weekly production schedules.
But the numbers of chip-related factory cuts are continuing to rise, according to the latest tally of manufacturing activity by AutoForecast Solutions, a forecasting firm that has been tracking the chip shortage’s impact since it emerged in early 2021.
AFS estimates that more than 167,000 vehicles will be scratched from factory plans this week, with manufacturers in Asian markets outside of China suffering the heaviest hit. Plants around Asia, outside of China, have cut nearly 434,000 vehicles so far this year because of the chip shortage, according to AFS, an increase of nearly 111,000 cuts from one week earlier.
Auto plants in China have racked up a modest number of schedule cuts so far this year — just 107,000 reductions to date. But that number of could simply reflect lower than normal vehicle output in China at the moment. China has been struggling to shut down factories and other activities in major cities to combat a resurgence of COVID-19.
