DUBLIN – Auto parts supplier Aptiv Plc is facing significant semiconductor supply constraints in the third quarter due to the fast-spreading Delta variant of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia, said chief financial officer Joseph Massaro yesterday.
Given the coronavirus outbreaks in Malaysia and Thailand, governments are taking a meaningful stance on production closures, he told the RBC Capital Markets industrials conference.
“We have had semiconductor suppliers industrywide who have been closed for a couple of weeks at a time. We had one that was closed for a couple of weeks, opened for a period of time, and then reclosed.”
Automakers from General Motors to Japan’s Toyota have slashed output and sales forecasts due to scarce chip supplies, made worse by a Covid-19 resurgence in key Asian semiconductor production hubs.
Massaro said the company initially estimated that the pandemic impact on Southeast Asia could cost the industry about 1.5 million units in Q3, but it now expects the number to be between two million and three million.
Aptiv, which makes advanced driver assistance systems and vehicle computers, counts Stellantis NV, Volkswagen AG and General Motors among its customers. – Reuters, September 11, 2021
