Dear Mr. ....,
Thank you for the trust you have placed in us regarding the delivery time of your car order.
To our regret we have to inform you that the production and delivery of new cars has been delayed by up to several months, as car manufacturers across the globe have been affected by a shortage of semiconductor chips. The vast majority of manufacturers have had to reduce or, in some cases, stop their production lines, and a lot of that is due to a shortage of microchips. The reason behind is that every electronic device – including mobile phones, computers, games consoles and your car – use microchips in the circuitry. In car industry is the even worse, because every single new car uses MCUs – micro controller units – for the control of the various aspects of the vehicle, like the chassis, safety system, ABS, stability control systems, airbags, power windows and more. In cars you can find dozens of MCUs from many suppliers, if just one of those MCUs is in short supply, your car cannot be delivered.
There are a number of factors behind the current shortage of microchips. First up, the global pandemic and accompanying lockdown meant chipmakers had to slow down production massively. And, as everyone else has had to stay inside, sales of electric gizmos like tablets and phones have gone through the roof as we’ve all relied on them to keep us entertained over a very long year indoors. So, fewer chips are being produced and those that are have been used in faster-selling consumer electronics. As we’ve been using our cars less over the pandemic, chip makers have naturally given priority to other products. It doesn’t stop there though. A massive winter storm in Texas affected a bunch of electronics facilities– curtailing their ability to produce microchips. Then in Taiwan, a severe drought knocked their ability to produce microchips, as the semiconductor industry needs a lot of water in production. In addition to all of this, Tokyo’s factory – which produces one third of microcontroller chips used in cars – had a massive fire that contributed to the shortage we’re now facing.
As we mentioned above, consumer electronics like consoles and tablets are selling faster than cars in lockdown, so it makes sense from chip producer side to prioritize those in the current market. But beyond that: cars use a specific legacy chip, which is tough and long lasting, but uses an older design. As the chip makers won’t make as much of a profit from the car microchips, the car makers are near the back of the queue.
We have our customers in focus and we keep the promise to deliver. However, under current circumstances, some delays on new cars orders are unavoidable. The length of these delays will vary, situation is changing every day, all manufactures are forces to slow down the production or even pause the production for the most critical period of time. We are working hard to implement the measures and we strongly believe, that these delays won’t last forever. We are even thinking to bring the chip building in-house so we can do it themselves. As chip building isn’t their area of expertise, this won’t happen overnight – but a start has been made. On top of that, Intel has also committed to huge investment in new chip factories that could help with shortages, and chip makers in Taiwan are increasing production to meet the shortfall. So, while we have a problem and have to wait in the short to medium term, there’s a fix on the horizon.
Under current circumstances in the vast majority of cases it is not possible to say when the vehicle will be manufactured and delivered. Once this information is available, your dealer will be the first to know this positive information and we are convinced that he will be happy to pass this information on to you.
Kind Regards,
Radka Mrazkova, Péče o zákazníka - Customer Center
ŠKODA AUTO a.s., tř. Václava Klementa 869, Mladá Boleslav II
293 01 Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic
sks.service@skoda-auto.cz, www.skoda-auto.com