Ómicron once again turned on the alerts in the automotive industry in the world, since there is a risk that China choose again to close its manufacturing plants to face the pandemic, which would lead to a continuing shortage of not only semiconductors but also other parts and components from the East, which would cause a 20% decrease in vehicle production.
Guido Vildozo, director of sales of light vehicles in North America of the international consultancy IHS Markit, affirmed that the wave of infections and the force that the variant has taken Omicron of Covid-19 in the world “can still hit us”, which will lead to a slowdown in production projections and sales of light vehicles.
He estimated that Mexico could reach a production between 3.3 and 3.4 million light vehicles by 2022, this is growth of 10 and 14%, compared to what was registered in 2021. “There is plenty of installed capacity. What there isn’t is raw material to reach that goal,” so the specialist hoped that by the middle of the year there would be greater availability of semiconductors for the automotive industry of combustion units.
“The issue of raw materials is not released until the end of this year and the impact of Omicron must be foreseen, because we are seeing China’s policy of closing the economy. More what happens with Toyota in Japan facing a severe decrease in production due to Covid-19 infections in Asia. (That) It could be reflected in volumes 20% lower than what is visualized”, warned Guido Vildozo.
He added, if we believe that the worst is over, and that the lowest volumes were recorded in the second and third semesters of 2021, well, “the omicron can still hit us and that will slow down the projections for this year.”
According to the IHS Markit consultancy, the scenario production of 82 million units is estimated in the world, which reflects an increase of 6 million units and the greater availability of semiconductors. However, the pandemic continues to be the great challenge. Ómicron turns on the alerts to Automotive industry of lower production due to a shortage of chips.
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