ASW Conversations: The ‘Rock and a Hard Place’ for Automakers

Semiconductors are at the heart of many conversations involving the automotive industry.

Shortages caused by increased demand for electronics during the COVID-19 pandemic are hurting new vehicle sales as this key component can’t be produced fast enough to meet automaker needs.

But government mandates around the world for electrification of vehicles are “compounding” the problem as EVs use far more of the component than gas-powered vehicles, says Lewis Black, CEO of Almonty Industries, a Toronto-based global mining company.

“Car manufacturers are caught between a rock and a hard place: They get their allocation of semiconductors but then what do they do with them? They can produce more regular gasoline vehicles with the semiconductors they have because they use less semiconductors. But then you’re going against the great political push to EVs. So then you’ve got to be showing to the wider world that you are increasing your output of EVs. So you are also, in fact, exacerbating your own problem,” he tells Peter Bulmer, host of AutoServiceWorld Conversations.

Black talks about geopolitical challenges, the strategies some countries are taking, the effects of people keeping their vehicles longer and more.

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