10 Tuesday, April 20, 2021 Economy & Business No one was driving ‘Like fire-fighting’: Chip shortage Tesla before deadly crash that killed two rattles China car manufacturers AGENCIES Deputies said the car Automakers world over have had to adjust assembly lines due to chip shortages caused by high demand for cars TWO people were killed in was travelling fast and Texas in the fiery crash of failed to navigate a turn a Tesla and authorities say before running off the there was no one in the driv- er’s seat at the time of the road, hitting a tree, and crash, although it’s not clear bursting into flames whether the car’s driver-as- sist system was being used. ficials are investigating sev- A Harris County consta- eral Tesla crashes in which ble told television stations the vehicle’s Autopilot func- in Houston that there was tion may have been used, a person in the front pas- including crashes in which senger seat and another in a cars drove under tractor- rear passenger seat after the trailers. wreck Saturday night in the The company warns Houston suburb of Spring. customers that its driver- Harris County Precinct assist system, called Auto- 4 Constable Mark Herman pilot, is not an autonomous- said authorities are certain driving program, and that that no one was driving the they must pay attention and car at the time of the crash. be ready to take control of “They feel very confident the vehicle. However, the just with the positioning of National Transportation the bodies after the impact Safety Board said last year that there was no one driv- that the design of the sys- ing that vehicle,” Herman tem allows drivers to avoid told KHOU-TV. paying attention and fails to Deputies said the car limit where Autopilot can was travelling fast and be used. failed to navigate a turn be- KPRC-TV reported that fore running off the road, a brother-in-law of one of hitting a tree, and bursting the victims said it took four into flames. The identity of hours to extinguish the the victims had not been blaze. Authorities said the released by Sunday after- vehicle’s batteries repeat- China, where more than 25 million vehicles were sold last year, has become a ray of hope for automakers after the global auto industry was hit hard by the pandemic. However, noon. KHOU reported that edly reignited, and Herman China is also where news of the auto chip shortage first emerged last year. one was 69 and the other said that deputies called was 59. Tesla to ask how to put out AGENCIES the second quarter this year. However, China is also production by 5-8 percent in Stellantis and a lobbying Tesla did not immedi- the fire. Tesla publishes in- Stephan Woellenstein, where news of the auto chip the first two months of this group for the Detroit au- ately respond to an email formation for first respond- CAR industry executives are Volkswagen’s China chief, shortage first emerged last year and expects the hit to tomakers issued statements requesting comment. ers, including the location being rattled by a global short- told reporters on Sunday it year. The shortage was wors- ease from the third quarter of saying they were grateful the Federal traffic-safety of- of high-voltage lines. age of semiconductors which was hard to gauge how much ened by a fire in Renesas Elec- this year. Biden administration held the is hitting production in China, production Volkswagen might tronics’ chip factory in Japan As a result, the China Au- meeting and was making the after hoping the world’s big- lose week-to-week or even in March. tomobile Dealers Association issue a priority. They said they gest car market could spear- month-to-month because of In 2019, automotive said it expects car inventory to looked forward to working head global recovery in the the chip shortage. groups accounted for about a continue to drop in China as Biden to resolve the shortage. sector. “It’s really like fire-fight- tenth of the $429 billion semi- the chip shortage affects over- Gelsinger said on Monday Automakers around the ing … In some cases, we have conductor market, according all auto production. Supply of that Intel is in talks to start world have had to adjust switched to another chip so we to consultancy firm McKinsey, some car models might not be producing chips for carmak- assembly lines due to the changed suppliers,” he said, with NXP Semiconductor, able to meet demand, it said. ers within six to nine months. shortages, caused by manu- ahead of the Shanghai auto Germany’s Infineon and Re- The White House held a Cara Walker, an Intel spokes- facturing delays that some show opening on Monday. nesas among key suppliers to virtual CEO Summit on Mon- woman, said the production is semiconductor makers blame the sector. day where President Joe Biden part of a recently announced on a faster-than-expected re- Production cuts Automakers including Ni- met with executives from the program to open its factories covery from the coronavirus China, where more than ssan Motor, Ford Motor and auto, tech, biotech and con- to manufacture for other com- pandemic. 25 million vehicles were sold Nio Inc said they have cut pro- sumer electronics industries panies. She said the initial re- Volkswagen AG, China’s last year, has become a ray of duction due to the chip supply to discuss the chip shortage. sponse to the Intel Foundry biggest foreign automaker hope for automakers, includ- shortage. Participants included CEOs Services program “has been Two people were killed in Texas in the fiery crash of a Tesla and which wants to sell more than ing Volkswagen and General Li Shaohua, senior official Mary Barra of GM, Jim Farley very positive.” The Detroit au- authorities say there was no one in the driver’s seat at the time four million vehicles in the Motors, after the global auto at China Association of Auto- of Ford Motor and Intel’s Pat tomakers did not immediately of the crash. country, said the effect of the industry was hit hard by the mobile Manufacturers, said Gelsinger. respond to requests for com- shortage remains unabated in pandemic. chip supply shortages hit auto After the meeting, GM, ment. AUTO SHANGHAI 2021 New SUV models star at China auto show under virus controls AGENCIES Xingyue L to park itself and return to pick up its driver. VOLKSWAGEN, Ford and Chinese General Motors Co. debuted brands unveiled new SUVs for the Envision Plus midsize SUV China on Monday at the Shanghai and the Verano Sedan, among auto show, the industry’s big- 13 new and refreshed models gest marketing event in a year planned this year in China. Earlier overshadowed by the coronavirus this month, GM’s Wuling joint pandemic. venture released the electric Maca- Automakers are looking to ron, part of its fast-selling, lower- China, the biggest auto market by priced Hong Guang line. sales volume and the first major Peugeot, part of the Stellantis economy to rebound from the group created through the merger pandemic, to propel a revival in of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group in demand and reverse multibillion- January, showcased a new range dollar losses. of SUVs — the 4008, the plug- Auto Shanghai 2021 takes in electric hybrid 4008 and the place under anti-virus controls 5008. that included holding some news China’s first-quarter sales of conferences by video link. Few SUVs, sedans and minivans in executives from abroad are attend- Volkswagen’s ID 6 SUV being presented at the Shanghai Auto Show on Monday. The NIO eve concept car China jumped 75.6% over a year ing. Reporters were required to earlier, when the ruling Commu- undergo virus tests. nist Party shut down the economy The latest models reflect accel- to fight the virus, according to the erating momentum toward elec- China Association of Auto Manu- trification and designing models facturers. for Chinese tastes. Automakers By contrast, Edmunds.com rely increasingly on research and Inc. forecasts quarterly U.S. sales design centers in China to create should rise 8.9% over a year models for global sale. earlier but would be off 8.6% from Ford Motor Co. presented a the final quarter of 2020. midsize SUV, the EVOS, the first Sales of electric vehicles in vehicle created largely by a China- China, which accounts for about based team under a 2-year-old half of global purchases of the strategy to integrate Ford’s Chi- technology, nearly tripled in the nese operations into global prod- first three months of 2021 over a uct development. The automaker year earlier to 515,000 units, ac- also exhibited a plug-in hybrid cording to CAAC. SUV, the Escape, and an all-elec- Honda Motor Co. unveiled tric Mustang Mach-E. a prototype SUV that will be its “We’re moving away from first electric vehicle sold in China just looking at list of features, and the Breeze, the first plug-in but much more focused on how BMW’s Vision Next concept car Visitors to the Tesla booth look at cars on display. hybrid from its joint venture with how does that all come together state-owned GAC. Honda plans to in terms of the experience for the all-electric ID.6, available in six- version of its A6 e-tron sedan, the the automaker says it will release Geely Auto, part of the Geely release 10 electric models within customer,” said Tim Slatter, vice and seven-seat models, aims to first of a family of electric cars due globally by 2025.