Nissan blames IC shortage
It is being reported that Nissan is blaming a recent shut down of car manufacturing sites for four days was a result of Hitachi Ltd.'s inability to supply enough parts. This type of shutdown is unprecedented for a major car manufacturer, excepting natural disasters, and observers expect the car giant to seek compensation from Hitachi.
It appears Hitachi has been caught with the recent rise in global demand being greater than analysts expected. This situation suggests that many in the industry were also unsure of how far the growth potential was. This is not caused so much by poor analysis but trepidation in an industry that has just suffered the largest recession in its history.
Hitachi officials have stated their problems arose when one of the semiconductor manufacturers had announced to Hitachi there had been a cut in production. It would appear that Hitachi has been sourcing their ICs from a single source, European manufacturer STMicroelectronics. Nissan states that in July they were 20 000 units down from expectations, delaying the production of 20 000 vehicles. At this stage Nissan is unsure whether its requirements will be met in July.
A spokesperson for STMicroelectronics commented that "It is not ST's policy to comment on customers' statements."
They did however note that, "We can only recall it's a known fact that the recovery of the automotive business after the crisis is taking place at a faster rate than expected and that the whole automotive electronics supply chain is currently under pressure to keep up with the market's demand. The most recently disclosed data for ST show a year over year growth for automotive devices of 61% and the company is strongly engaged in keeping the commitments it has made to its customers."