Automotive: GM Moving To Its Own Microchips By 2025

Auto industry news has been dominated by the ongoing global microchip shortage, which has affected production and product availability for every major automaker, including GM.

Auto executives have been asleep at the wheel when it comes to supply chain management of chips for cars

Now, however, GM says it will have its own family of microchips locked in by 2025, a move that is expected to offset future chip-related production delays.

In a recent interview with Associated Press, GM CEO Mary Barra said that GM is moving toward three families of microchips that the automaker will buy and control directly. This is in contrast to the older model in which GM allows parts supply companies to acquire chips without GM’s prior knowledge.

GM’s new standardization model will streamline the critical components, eliminating the need for dozens of different chips per vehicle and allowing GM to buy in bulk to ensure that supplies are not interrupted.

“We’re also working with a select group of strategic companies to source these for the volumes,” Barra told AP. “We’ll have much better control and a stable supply.”

For now, however, Barra indicated that she expects chip shortages will likely continue into next year, possibly exacerbated by further COVID-19 outbreaks.