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Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

bbc.com

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Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#111

Post by throwaway9870 »

brobdingnagians wrote: post #75
Veliladon wrote: post #7

Toyota was one of the few (only?) companies to keep a large stockpile of chips on hand to continue production in case of a supply interruption. They kept something like two years worth on hand. I guess 18 months of doing the extremely heavy lifting for the whole industry has taken its toll and now they're in the same boat.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but does anyone still produce cars without chips? It's possible, and in the current environment it seems like it would be a major competitive advantage-- and might be more reliable in general.

You cannot build a modern car engine without chips, let alone a car. Also, no way to hit safety requirements without chips (air bag deployment for example).

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#112

Post by thaumasiotes »

mnadkvlb wrote: post #95

Can someone explain, why this is not reported as in what inflation looks like ? when Supply cant meet demand we get higher prices, what am i missing here ?

That's not really the usual concept of "inflation". Every commodity fluctuates in price. Inflation is when the price of a unit of money falls. Conceptually, it's very easy to distinguish "cars cost more dollars because cars are more expensive" from "cars cost more dollars because dollars are cheaper". In practice, it's difficult to measure the value of a dollar. But in general, inflation looks more like the price of everything going up, and less like the price of cars going up.

(Currently, a lot of different prices are going up, and current inflation is high. But you can't just point to Toyota raising prices and say "See? This is what inflation looks like!" That is what inflation looks like, but it's also what not-inflation looks like.)

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#113

Post by 11thEarlOfMar »

If you have a taste for irony, my company makes critical components for semiconductor equipment. If we can't ship, equipment companies can't ship new equipment. If they can't ship, semiconductor fabs can't increase capacity to meet the demand and solve the shortage.

We went line down last week due to shortage of a chip for our component.

In reality, the shortage is somewhat self-inflicted, like toilet paper a year ago, but for whatever combination of real demand + hoarding, we can't get chips.

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#114

Post by detaro »

laydn wrote: post #65
belter wrote: post #20

"Porsche will provide cars with ‘fake chips’ to reduce delivery times" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28042518

That makes no sense. I wonder what they mean by "fake" chips? Are they simply not placing the chip on the board, or are they using a footprint compatible different chip (unlikely), or are they completely redesigning the board with another chip which has much better availability? (most likely)

Presumably they are building cars but leave entire modules out, and then fit them later as supply arrives. Has some benefits over stopping production, if you can afford to have a stockpile of cars around.

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#115

Post by teorema »

brobdingnagians wrote: post #75
Veliladon wrote: post #7

Toyota was one of the few (only?) companies to keep a large stockpile of chips on hand to continue production in case of a supply interruption. They kept something like two years worth on hand. I guess 18 months of doing the extremely heavy lifting for the whole industry has taken its toll and now they're in the same boat.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but does anyone still produce cars without chips? It's possible, and in the current environment it seems like it would be a major competitive advantage-- and might be more reliable in general.

Ugh... in one of the these threads on HN someone said a manufacturer was doing that, or at least openly speculating about it, offering a low tech model. I think it was in France but my memory is fuzzy.

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#116

Post by gonzo41 »

wonderwonder wrote: post #87

So new cars are going to be come more expensive due to supply limitations and in turn used cars will continue to become more expensive as they can rise to a certain % of the new car price. At the same time housing prices continue to sky rocket. Seems like not a great time for someone just stepping into adulthood and financial responsibility.

Spend 5K on a really nice commuter electric bicycle. You'll be doing a solid for the Environment and you'll have an EV that makes you fitter.

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#117

Post by cuu508 »

josephd79 wrote: post #86
brobdingnagians wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but does anyone still produce cars without chips? It's possible, and in the current environment it seems like it would be a major competitive advantage-- and might be more reliable in general.

probably not, regulation and crack down on pollution from vehicles. Have you ever rode in an older car that uses a carburetor instead of fuel injection? Nothing like the crisp smell of gasoline in the morning... or anytime you drive it.

Of course, you need some electronics. Let's rephrase: which cars from western mainstream manufacturers are currently the "lowest tech"? No infotainment, no digital dash, no touch-sensitive anything, as few sensors as is viable to still be road legal?

And a related question: modern cars are full of tech because that's what market demands. Can we expect the trend to reverse at some point?

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#118

Post by gameswithgo »

throwaway9870 wrote: post #111
brobdingnagians wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but does anyone still produce cars without chips? It's possible, and in the current environment it seems like it would be a major competitive advantage-- and might be more reliable in general.

You cannot build a modern car engine without chips, let alone a car. Also, no way to hit safety requirements without chips (air bag deployment for example).

I mean yes, if you take that tautologically, since a modern car engine has a chip. But probably you could build an engine that meets modern requirements without. People forget how clever analog solutions can be. It would be a huge pain in the ass though, and take years.

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#119

Post by nszceta »

jtbayly wrote: post #59
riggins wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/18/opinion/infla... "In July, some of these sectors (used cars in particular) experienced a big deceleration in inflation, bolstering the argument" https://news.yahoo.com/us-used-car-bubble-burst-141009925.ht... "The price index for used vehicles rose 0.2% in July, after having risen at least 7.3% in each of the previous three months. The category was one of the few, along…

Used cars have a natural price cap, and my understanding is that it has been reached. They are too close to the price of a new car to go any higher.

The price of a new car is whatever the dealer is willing to let it go for. MSRP is a starting point, not the final price, which can be literally anything.

Re: Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%

#120

Post by papercrane »

colordrops wrote: post #58
hownottowrite wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please write back when Tesla learns how to correctly apply paint to a car or fit body panels, or well, pretty much everything else that makes an actual car a car instead of a disposable gadget.

The concerns you express aren't noticable or bothersome except to a small percentage of enthusiasts. Teslas are mechanically far more reliable and require less maintenance that other cars.

The data doesn't bear that out. Tesla's have consistently ranked near the bottom in reliability surveys and indexes. They're amazing cars, but they've got a long way to go on the build quality and reliability measures.
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