Makoto Uchida, Nissan Chief Executive Officer, on March 3, 2020.
Bloomberg
Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s CEO, said Wednesday that the global chip shortage needs to be watched closely as delivery issues have yet to be fully resolved.
The Japanese automaker announced in May that it would produce half a million fewer vehicles in 2021 due to the chip shortage. She hoped to be able to mitigate the effects in the second half of the year.
“If we know the current situation, we cannot be optimistic,” Uchida told CNBC’s Street Signs Europe on Wednesday. “I think that is still day after day.”
The chip shortage came after demand coincided with the coronavirus pandemic. There’s also a dearth of factories making the older, less advanced chips used in automobiles.
Uchida believes the chip shortage situation will improve, but cautioned that semiconductor suppliers have “many complexities” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have to monitor this carefully,” he said. “We have to anticipate because nobody knows what will happen in the coming months.”
Nissan rose to profitability in the final quarter and raised its forecast for the year on Wednesday.
While the chip crisis is likely to continue, Uchida said Nissan was positive about handling the problem.
“We are very confident because in the first quarter we were able to minimize the effects of semiconductor shortages through strategic inventory management and parts procurement,” he said.
Favorable conditions in the US market and the rise in used car prices also contributed to Nissan’s recent results, he said.
There are signs that the chip shortage is also affecting companies outside of the automotive and gaming industries.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday that the company is struggling to get its hands on all of the basic chips it needs to power the iPhone and iPad.
