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It’s unlikely that this is the first time you are hearing about the global chip shortage.

Made of silicon, semiconductor chips are behind all of the world’s complex digital and electronic devices. And unfortunately, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 semiconductor manufacturing reduced as demand reduced and the supply chain is likely to take as much as 1.5 years to recover now that the economy is once again on the move and demand has again increased. The impacts of the chip shortage is expected to last well into 2022.

The lack of these tiny pieces of silicon is impacting the automotive industry more than most others.

Why, you may ask?

Well, modern vehicles are built using anywhere between 500 – 1,500 different chips. And when the pandemic started auto manufacturers proactively cancelled a bunch of their orders anticipating the market to nosedive. However, the recession was short lived and pent-up demand allowed for an impressive rebound leaving them with the lack of supply.

Though not exclusively affecting American-based manufacturers, Ford, Stellantis, and GM have been the most impacted with the Ford F-series taking the largest hit at 109,710 delayed units. Ford, Stellantis, and GM combined face 855,000 production delays – that’s over 75% of the estimated 1.1 million vehicles likely to be impacted.

Honda, Nissan and Toyota will take a collective hit of just under 109,000 vehicles and Hyundai and Volvo will be minimally impacted with less than 3,000 vehicles delayed.

It’s been predicted that the chip shortage could cost the global auto industry $110 billion this year.

So, what does this mean for the market?

Automakers have been cutting the production of vehicles that are in lower demand and less profitable – so seek out pickups and SUVs for your clients overseas as money-making vehicles are getting all the chips.

Certain features – like automatic stop-start from GM and the fuel management module or passenger side lumbar support from Tesla – have been temporarily dropped on most builds. It’s likely that it will be easiest to find vehicles to export with fewer added features.

It may be conducive to look into purchasing and shipping used vehicles or older models to export overseas, although that is not without difficulty either as used vehicles are costing more than ever (a story for another day). If you are having difficulty tracking down the 2021 models you are looking for, reach out to our sales team sales@techlantic.com.

Eric, Damon and Robin are the ones you want to talk to for vehicle sourcing and buying a car from Canada for export. With strong dealer relations they should be your go-tos to track down F-150s and Ram 1500s. Even with the on-going chip shortage, the car export business is still in full swing.