Under the continuous shock of the lack of core of automobile chip, automobile manufacturers are unable to seek the core, which makes the cooperation between the supply chain of traditional automobile chip appear obvious crack. General Motors Co (General Motors) CEO Mary Barra said on Sept. 17 that General Motors Co plans to adjust its supply chain in response to the ongoing semiconductor chip crisis, which has forced its company to slash production.

Barra has not yet announced specific measures, but she said in an online interview: "We are going to make some pretty significant changes to the company's supply chain. We are already delving into the layered supply base.General Motors Co didn't usually buy chips (directly) before, but our suppliers bought them, but now we are in direct contact with manufacturers.」

The supply chain of automobile chip has changed from "linear" to "network".

In fact, due to the high demand for electronic cars, car companies have been fully aware of the importance of semiconductor supply in this round of core shortage. Not only did General Motors Co intend to contact the chipmaker directly, but earlier, according to foreign media reports, an executive of Volkswagen who did not want to be identified once expressed a similar intention: "We are considering a direct contractual relationship with the chipmaker." Given the importance of semiconductors to today's cars, the auto industry will have to respond. He added: "having multiple supply channels is very important, so Volkswagen has the potential to break the tradition of purchasing chips only from top auto parts suppliers. "

So what is the chip supply tradition that automakers are trying to break?

It is understood thatIn the traditional automotive chip supply chain, the direct cooperation of automobile manufacturers is generally with Tier1 suppliers.The so-called Tier1, the first-class supplier, is the most influential supplier in the automobile industry chain. It not only supplies assemblies and modules (including chip devices) directly to the car factory, but also participates in each other's R & D and design with the car factory, and has the highest participation in the whole vehicle manufacturing process.

According to a Tier1 supplier's introduction to the traditional automobile supply chain in an interview with China Finance and Economics, the large automobile Tier1 supplier talks directly with the chip company, and the delivery is carried out by the distributor, which helps them build inventory and maintain the flexibility of the supply chain, which is equivalent to a buffer pool. For small suppliers, their purchasing volume is not enough to talk directly with the original chip manufacturers, so they rally around the distributors and get the goods through agents. With the passage of time, some distributors (such as Universiade, a well-known solution company in the industry) began to provide technical support, from a simple change of trade to an integrated company of trade and technology solutions, pre-sales and after-sales services.

In shortThe traditional automotive chip supply chain is embodied inThe automobile main engine factory needs through the Tier1 supplier, the Tier1 supplier looks for the agent to pick up the goods, the agent deals with the chip design enterprise, the chip design enterprise makes the chip using its own wafer factory or cooperates with the wafer foundry to produce the chip for delivery, and through layer by layer cooperation, the chip is delivered to the automobile manufacturer, the first sponsor of the supply chain.

But now, GM's latest statement and Volkswagen's "consideration" show that these automakers at the top of the chain, because they do not have access to chips, are trying to break these layers of links and contact chip manufacturers directly to obtain sufficient chip production capacity and ensure production demand.

What needs to be clear is thatAutomobile manufacturers try to break the traditional automotive chip supply chain, but it is not a comprehensive reform, but it is intended to reduce the "role" of Tier1, agents and distributors in the automotive chip supply chain, and to take back the trading rights of chips (including chip quantity and pricing) from Tier1, agents and distributors, so that automotive chip trading is dominated by automobile manufacturers.。

In manufacturing chips and turning chips into parts that can be loaded into cars, most automobile manufacturers still need the assistance of chip designers and solution vendors. Judging from the information disclosed by the supply chain, in the planned capacity cooperation between automobile manufacturers and wafer factories, these production capacity will eventually be allocated to chip designers, which will be used in cooperation between chip design enterprises and manufacturers to produce and supply the missing chips designated by automobile manufacturers.

The reform of the automobile supply chain is not achieved overnight. At the present stage, if automobile manufacturers want to obtain the supply of chips, they can not completely leave the assistance of chip dealers and distributors. For a long time, these two groups serve as the "reservoir" of automotive chips. Currently, they still have a large number of chips.

If automakers want to have "chip freedom", they also need to consider more chip supply safeguards. In addition to working directly with chip manufacturers, automakers also want to invest heavily in chip design companies, or even develop their own chips:

Zero running carIn October 2020, Lingxin 01, the first nationally produced AI intelligent driving chip with completely independent intellectual property rights, was officially released.

36Kr Holdings reported in 2020 thatNIO Inc.Self-driving computing chip is being planned and developed independently, mainly driven by Li Bin, chairman and CEO of NIO Inc. Automobile.

Great Wall MotorIt was announced in February 2021 that the company had completed its strategic investment in Beijing Horizon Robot Technology Research and Development Co., Ltd. (Horizon for short). Great Wall Motor is not the only one who is interested in Horizon chips. in addition to Great Wall Motor, there are also companies related to the automotive industry chain, such as BYD, Changjiang Automotive Electronics, Dongfeng assets and so on.

GeelyLi Shufu, chairman of the holding Group, revealed in an interview in March 2021 that the self-developed central control chip will be assembled in 2023.

TeslaFollowing the release of FSD Chip, the first self-driving chip independently developed by a car company, the artificial intelligence training computer chip Dojo D1 was released again in August 2021.

More extreme, Tesla, Inc. is rumored to be interested in buying wafer factories to produce the required chips and solve the chip supply problem from the source.

The multi-pronged approach of automobile manufacturers is promoting the reform of the traditional automotive chip supply chain from the "linear" of layer-by-layer cooperation to the "mesh" supply situation of multiple supply channels.

Summary: what is the impact?

It remains to be seen how successful the automakers' attempts will be. From the current situation, the plight of lack of core has not been fundamentally alleviated in a short period of time.

It can be predicted that if automobile manufacturers return to the center of the automotive chip supply chain with a "network" supply reform, and strengthen the say in chip supply, then the benefits of the original automotive chip supply chain will face redistribution. The profits of distributors and agents may face cuts, while chip manufacturers will have a greater say because of direct cooperation with automobile manufacturers.

In this way, on the positive side, the process for automakers to obtain chip supply is simplified; in the demand for customized chips, the dialogue between automobile manufacturers, as representatives of end consumers, and upstream chip manufacturers is strengthened, and the scene of electronic cars may be able to land more smoothly. In addition, the investment of automobile enterprises in the chip industry can strengthen the training of talents in the chip field, and also promote the process of automobile electronization.