GM WORKING TO TACKLE GLOBAL COMPUTER CHIP SHORTAGE
Nov 18, 2021
By Bob Komsic
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General Motors is working on new designs for semiconductors to be built in North America.
President Mark Reuss says the automaker’s working with seven chip suppliers on three new families of microcontrollers that’ll reduce the number of unique chips by 95% on future vehicles.
Most of GM’s investment in these families ”will flow to the U.S. and Canada,” according to the company president.
Reuss says these new microcontrollers will consolidate many of the functions now handled by individual chips, which not only will reduce cost and complexity, but will ”drive quality and predictability.”
Shortages of the semiconductor chips have forced automakers in some cases to build, then park unfinished vehicles until missing chips, that control everything from heated seats to infotainment systems, arrive and can be installed.
In other cases, customers are getting vehicles minus some of the usual features.