The global microchip shortage cost the auto industry millions of lost vehicles and billions in lost revenue last year. The latest estimates have the problem lingering through the first half of 2022.
To understand why the problem is now stretching into its second year, and why the industry's urgency to fix it hasn't delivered results, take a closer look at why it's all so complicated.
European chip supplier STMicroelectronics, the French-Italian semiconductor maker that is Europe's second-largest after Germany's Infineon, is moving aggressively to address the world shortage. STM is investing up to $3 billion into its new fabrication plant, or "fab," in Agrate, Italy, near Milan.