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Originally Posted by hayden55
It will be interesting to see the pricing on the new prius. i hear Ford/GM and all of the top economists are freaking out now about what to do with all the trucks that they built with out chips for the last two years now that we apparently have a "glut of chips".
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There isn't a glut of automotive chips - there is still a shortage. I was recently in a meeting on the topic of how we will deal with the chip shortage that will extend through at least 3Q2023.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hayden55
What model year will they be sold as? Will they actually offer them for sale as they fix them or will they hold them for their new order only model they want to try?
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That is a marketing question. Legally the model year can vary 2 years from the production date.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hayden55
It will be interesting as they can't blame a chip shortage anymore. But there is still unrest in the world's workshop (Asia) holding prices up.
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There is unrest in the world and there are still COVID lockdown that shut down factories and ports for weeks or months. This is the key problem and it extends beyond just chips. All sorts of parts are in short supply and we are continually having to adjust build schedules based on part availability. In the last 2 years we have become a lot better at partially building vehicles on the assembly line and then finishing them offline as parts become available
There is also a severe shortage of parts for assembly equipment. Basic things like HMIs, pumps, and motors have 9 to 12 month lead times now. I'm still waiting on a vacuum pump I ordered in January 2022. The new promised delivery date is February 2023.
I'd say some in the industry are quietly hoping for a real recession that will reduce demand for long enough for production to catch up with demand. Not knowing if you are going to get parts, expediting parts, finishing vehicles in parking lots put a lot of stress on employees and kills the bottom line. People are just getting burned out. The industry has helped margins some by prioritizing vehicles and trims with higher profit margins but it is still a huge effort for slim margins.