The ongoing worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips will negatively affect car sales in the second half of this year and will extend into the next year, Daimler AG said on Wednesday but hasn’t changed its profit margin outlook for this year.
Along with other automakers, Daimler reduced production this year due to a chip shortage during the coronavirus crisis, prompting the German automaker to focus on higher-margin models.
Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm informed investors that although the chip shortage would last into 2022, it would be less significant than this year.
“Improving supply visibility is a top priority for us,” Chief Executive Ola Källenius. He described the chip shortage crisis as “a fixable problem”.
The chip shortage, which has hit automakers worldwide, emerges from a confluence of factors as automakers, which closed plants for two months during the coronavirus pandemic last year, rival against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies. A factory fire suffered by Japanese chipmaker Renesas this year is also cited as a reason behind the chip shortage.
