European Carmakers Sound Alarm Over Nexperia Trade Dispute
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association said it's "deeply concerned" about potential disruptions to European vehicle manufacturing stemming from a trade dispute over Chinese-owned Dutch semiconductor firm Nexperia, especially "if the interruption of Nexperia chips supplies cannot be immediately resolved."
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The association said carmakers and their suppliers received a notice from Nexperia on Oct. 10 "outlining a sequence of events that results in them no longer being able to guarantee delivery of their chips to the automotive supply chain." That notice came after Beijing prohibited Nexperia China and its subcontractors from exporting specific finished components and sub-assemblies manufactured in China. The Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs then announced it had seized control of Nexperia from parent company Wingtech Technology, a Chinese firm that was added to the Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List late last year (see 2510140015).
Car manufacturers and other companies that depend on Nexperia chips fear that the dispute could lead to shipping and business disruptions, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said Oct. 16.
"Nexperia is an important, high-volume supplier of semiconductors that are often used in the electronic control units of vehicle electrical systems, for example," it said. "Without these chips, European automotive suppliers cannot build the parts and components needed to supply vehicle manufacturers and this therefore threatens production stoppages. While the industry already sources the same types of chips from alternative players on the market, the homologating of new suppliers for specific components and the build-up of production would take several months, while current stocks of Nexperia chips are generally predicted to last only a few weeks."
Sigrid de Vries, the association's director general, said: "We suddenly find ourselves in this alarming situation. We really need quick and pragmatic solutions from all countries involved."