Page 30 - TTG-Taiwan Transportation Equipment Guide (TTG)2022-04 Edition

28
Industry Trends

surges. This has led Chinese new-energy vehicle Great Supply Chain Disruption: Why it continues
makers to look to hike prices as well. in 2022” report, a number of global circumstances,
not just the impacts from the pandemic and the
Unstable and inflating raw material and metal Russian-Ukraine conflict, have contributed to the
prices pose a crucial concern for the growing worsening supply chain. Delays and disruptions
EV market, in a time when overall technology for manufacturers and deliveries on a scale
advancements have helped push down the barrier unprecedented in the past 30 years of globalization,
of entry to become an EV owner. The World container shipping networks remain jammed,
Economic Forum estimates that by 2040, the existing and incoming constraints on various types
world’s EV sales will reach 500 million units, a of computer chips, strained capacity in world oil
fleet that will require at least 290 million charging output, endemic shortages of labor and materials,
stations to maintain and power. as well as the significance of geopolitics and ESG
on supply chains and company strategies.
Take the EV market in Taiwan for example,
statistics show that the number of newly registered Writing for the section on automotive in the
EVs on January 10, 2021, amounted to 5,221 units. report, Matteo Fini, Vice President, Automotive
Even with the COVID-19 pandemic surging, causing Supply Chain and Technology, says that 2022 is
a shortage of automotive semiconductors that is highly another write-off, as the limitations on the
gradually lessening, EV sales still reached a year- current manufacturing inputs are unlikely to be
on-year increase of 74%. As of the release of these resolved in the short term. While the chip shortages
statistics, Taiwan’s yearly EV registration numbers are largely under control now, Fini warned that the
have already exceeded 16,000 units. shocks caused by these shortages in the first place
will persist for a time. Automakers will need to make
Disruption Will Continue tradeoffs when producing vehicles in 2022.

Despite the general sentiment to return to pre- Fini writes that another area of concern in the
COVID social norms and economic conditions, automotive supply chain is electrical steel, which for
experts have routinely warned that the current EVs, is a grade of steel used in significant amounts
situations and conditions could be here to stay in specifically in electric motors for propulsion.
the following years. According to IHS Markit’s “The Very similar to how semiconductor production is