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Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

reuters.com

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Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#51

Post by ashtonkem »

asdff wrote: post #42
slownews45 wrote: post #7

Man - the magnitude / impact of these chips shortages on autos in particular is crazy. Regardless of Opel popularity, in the US the F-150 was a best selling vehicle and massive cash cow and they had unfinished vehicles sitting out. These chips have GOT to be a relatively low margin / somewhat lower cost item (ie, feature size can be large). What a miss not to have more coverage for them.

Auto makers should just buy back leased cars from dealerships and harvest the chips. These are cars after all, so the chipsets have probably been the same underpowered crapware for the last ten years.

Used car prices are so high, that would probably be pretty expensive.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#52

Post by paganel »

ohmaigad wrote: post #36
kayone wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

most things you mention are mandated by the government, you can't sell a car in any western market without tire pressure monitoring, stability control, back up camera etc. the manufacturers have no choice, it would be like suggesting they sell cars without seatbelts.

Back up cameras are not mandatory until May 2022 in the EU.

We're already only a few months away from 2022, most (if not all) carmakers present on the EU market have included back-up cameras in their vehicles. I know that my brother's Dacia Logan built in 2019 already had one.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#53

Post by tristan957 »

blfr wrote: post #34
clintonb wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the _market_ begging, or a few folks on the internet? The only folks I know that complain about technology in cars are a couple posters on internet forums.

Yeah, I don't like how overcomplicated many products are becoming but even then wouldn't buy a car without at least AC and Bluetooth.

You could easily pick up an after market bluetooth-enabled product. A/C is definitely important however.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#54

Post by paganel »

chefkoch wrote: post #48
caeril wrote: post #21

What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…

>A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions You still need electronics for - ABS - ESP - Airbags (- Diagnostics) Because these are mandated. Buy a cheap Dacia and there won't be much else except electric windows.

I found that one can live without ESP.

> Buy a cheap Dacia and there won't be much else except electric windows.

As mandated by EU law the latest Dacia models already have most of those, they do have back up cameras, for example.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#55

Post by mymythisisthis »

caeril wrote: post #21

What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…

I think that keyless systems came after few incidents of people's key chains being too heavy and accidentally turning the car off when hitting a bump on the highway.

Since most cars keys already, from the late 90s, had chips in them, to prevent theft. It was the next step to remove the superfluous metal part.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#56

Post by bserge »

caeril wrote: post #21

What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…

I want something (exactly) like a Ford Escort 1988 model with the 1.6 diesel (Ford LT "Dagenham") engine.

That thing would work long after a massive solar flare and nuclear apocalypse... If it wasn't rusted to shit.

So yeah, better alloy/treatment for the frame :D

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#57

Post by mprev »

tibbydudeza wrote: post #2

They used to be big back in the day when hot hatches ruled and we had Golf vs Astra (Vauxhall for the UK) but then we got crossovers and mini-SUV and GM had their own problems to invest in the brand. Nowadays they make rebadged Peugeot/Citroen cars.

I’m no fan but it’s reductive to call them rebadged Peugeots. Like just about any car you buy, including a Rolls Royce, they are built using a shared platform. In this case, it’s one of the Stellantis platforms.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#58

Post by LawnGnome »

asdff wrote: post #50
usmannk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine anyone would want the car you described, for market-sized values of "anyone"

Anyone driving a car thats older than 15 years old is already driving the car that OP is describing.

Sure, but do they actually want that car, or is that just what they have and can afford?

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#59

Post by paganel »

kenniskrag wrote: post #25
caeril wrote: post #21

What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…

tire pressure sensor, gps and e-call is needed by law.

Maybe we should amend/change those laws back.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#60

Post by zz865 »

tibbydudeza wrote: post #2

They used to be big back in the day when hot hatches ruled and we had Golf vs Astra (Vauxhall for the UK) but then we got crossovers and mini-SUV and GM had their own problems to invest in the brand. Nowadays they make rebadged Peugeot/Citroen cars.

Opel used to be owned by GM since 1931.

From Wikipedia: "In the 1990s, Opel was considered to be GM's cash cow, with profit margins similar to that of Toyota. Opel's profit helped to offset GM's losses in North America and to fund GM's expansion into Asia"

The GM bankruptcy contributed to Opel downfall.

It makes PSA cars because PSA bought them in 2017.

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