“About a week ago, I spent a few hours at my local Chevy dealer buying out the lease on my 2018 Bolt, with brand new LG batteries—the old ones were recalled because they risked bursting into flames. While working on the paperwork in the eerily quiet dealership, the salesman told me there were cars that had been sitting in the service department for weeks waiting for the arrival of parts—computer chips, in particular. He said sales at the dealership had dropped by about 90% from prepan-demic levels, and most of the sales staff had been laid off...”
“Meanwhile, Toyota Motor (TM) recently cut its vehicle production forecast for 2022 by 500,000 units, citing both uncertainty related to Covid-19 and the ongoing chip shortage. The bottom line? The case for owning chip fab stocks … is very compelling.”
From: “Feeling Better About the Chip Shortage?” - by Eric Savitz
Barron’s (print edition) February 14, 2022
Fascinating that the problem has persisted so many months. I’m always amazed when I take my 2018 Honda Accord back to the once thriving dealership for routine service and see the showroom and lots devoid of autos - completely barren.
