The global shortage of semiconductor components as a source of the current crisis in the global automotive industry

Abstract

Purpose: of this article is to identify the causes of the automotive industry crisis in 2020–2022, which led to the shutdown of the conveyor lines of the largest automotive companies around the world, based on the study of the degree of dependence of the automotive industry on microelectronic components.Methods: in preparing the work, a complex of scientific research methods was used, in particular, the method of system analysis, as well as conceptual-methodological and logical methods.Results: during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global automotive industry faced two unforeseen shocks that virtually paralyzed production output. The first of them was associated with a deep drop in demand for automotive products. The second – with the complete depletion of the semiconductor industry's production capacity for the release of critical microcircuits necessary for the production of cars. Both events, directly related to the change in consumer behavior during the pandemic, provoked a severe industry crisis, in which the automotive industry has been to this day. The resulting shortage showed the fragility of existing supply chains and the precariousness of the practice of "immediate production" in emergency economic conditions.Conclusions and Relevance: the crisis of the automotive industry in 2020–2021 proceeded in two stages and was triggered by two mutually exclusive reasons from the point of view of economic theory. The first stage is a drop in demand, a «classic» crisis of overproduction. The second stage of the crisis is a chronic (continuing for a long time) shortage of microelectronic components for automotive production. It is this phenomenon that does not fit into the framework of a generalized understanding of the functioning of market economy mechanisms.