Stellantis’s Tavares Sees Microchip Shortage Lasting to End-2023

Alexandre Rajbhandari, Bloomberg News

Carlos Tavares, chief executive officer of PSA Group, reacts during the automaker's full year earnings news conference in Paris, France, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Peugeot maker PSA Group defied mounting pessimism in the car industry by raising its dividend and offering assurances to investors that it can withstand a deepening slump. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) --

Stellantis NV’s chief executive believes a microchip shortage could remain “very complicated” until late 2023, according to an interview with Le Parisien published on Sunday.

Carlos Tavares expects the situation to loosen after that, in part because the market for consumer electronics is declining. The carmaker’s CEO also thinks the tens of billions of euros invested in Europe and the US to foster local microchip industries will boost supply in the long term.

“When these investments materialize, there will be microchips, even in overabundance,” Tavares said in the interview. “But we’ll need to wait at least three years.”

Car manufacturers are facing a shortage of microchips, after the dedicated industry shifted its focus to consumer electronics during the pandemic. At the time, carmakers had lowered their microchip orders, with potential customers unable to go to dealerships, Renault SA’s Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo said in the same interview with Le Parisien.

“Now I struggle to find the basic microchip that raises or lowers the window,” de Meo said. “Without it, I can’t produce the car.”