A Nissan Motor ea Mercedes-Benz warned about the worsening of crisis in semiconductor supplies on Wednesday, highlighting the growing repercussions of the dispute between the Netherlands and China over Dutch chipmaker Nexperia.
The trade and intellectual property standoff between China and the Dutch government over Nexperia, whose chips are widely used in automotive components, is the latest challenge for an industry already struggling with U.S. tariffs and Chinese restrictions on rare earths.
The warning is also a reminder of the vulnerability of car manufacturers in the face of trade frictions between China and the West.
China banned exports of Nexperia’s finished products from its Chinese factories after the Dutch government in September took control of the chipmaker, citing concerns about possible technology transfer to Nexperia’s Chinese parent, Wingtech.
The Chinese company was identified by the United States as a possible risk to national security.
“It’s not a small issue, it’s a big issue,” Nissan Chief Performance Officer Guillaume Cartier told reporters when asked about the impact on chip supply.
“Right now, we don’t have full visibility.”
Cartier, in a group interview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo, said the automaker was doing “fine until the first week of November” in terms of chip supplies.
While it was possible to get a sense of the state of supply at its main suppliers, it became more difficult at the end of the supply chain, he said.
German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is now looking for other suppliers around the world, Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius said on Wednesday.
Kaellenius also said it was difficult to predict how the situation would unfold.
In Brazil, an important automotive hub, some car manufacturers could halt their production within two to three weeks if an international crisis in the supply of chips persists, Secretary of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services Uallace Moreira said on Tuesday.
The Brazilian government is contacting Chinese authorities to find a solution, Moreira said.
