According to a press release published on PR Newswire on 26 July, the National Council on Aging (NCOA), the national voice for everyone's right to age well, and Volkswagen Group of America released the results of an online survey of older adults designed to better understand attitudes and perceptions about self-driving and ride-hailing (SDRH) services, as well as their perceptions about alternative transportation options. Approximately 70% of respondents said they trust SDRH services, are con...

According to a press release on Bloomberg dated 8 July, Renault SA CEO Luca de Meo said the effects of the global semiconductor shortage will be felt through next year, a warning that does not bode well for a recovery in auto production. Major suppliers have cautioned Renault that the shortage is “a structural thing that will be with us through 2022," de Meo said Wednesday on the sidelines of a French parliamentary hearing. “There will be tension in the system even if production capa...

According to a press release on automotive logistics dated 21 June, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA) stated that a shortage of semiconductors has so far delayed the production of 500,000 vehicles worldwide. It also stated that the shortage will be felt well into 2022, limiting vehicle manufacturers' ability to restore global vehicle inventories for the rest of 2021 at the very least. “The second quarter of 2021 has been very challenging, and we still see disruptions ...

Volkswagen’s premium car unit Audi has deployed artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor its supply chain and other areas for sustainability, the company said in a press release on 17 June. Started off as a pilot project in October 2020, Audi’s AI tools serve as digital early warning radar for the supply chain, ensure greater transparency, monitors feeds in 50 languages spoken across 150 countries and overlooks social issues, environment, and cybercrime. The carmaker said it has outline...

On 31 May, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said it could take several years for a global shortage of semiconductors to be resolved. This is a problem that has shuttered some auto production lines and is also being felt in other areas, including consumer electronics. He told a virtual session of the Computex trade show in Taipei that the work-and-study-from-home trend during the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a "cycle of explosive growth in semiconductors" that has placed huge strain on global...

Renesas Electronics Corp is expected to restore full production capacity at a fire-damaged chip plant in Japan by mid-June as per the company's press release dated 1 June.  Capacity on the Naka plant's 300mm chip line in eastern Japan had returned to about 88% of pre-fire levels at the end of May, the company said in a statement. All new equipment would be installed and switched on "by mid-June", it added. Significance: The fire, caused by an electrical fault, was a blow to ...

According to an article by Gadgets360 dated 24 May, the CEO of America's second-largest auto company, Ford, is calling for the federal government to set standards for fully or partially automated vehicles to tighten the safety of electronic driving systems. In urging federal regulation, Ford CEO Jim Farley becomes the highest-profile auto executive to publicly recognize a need to monitor the emerging technology more closely, which is becoming more prevalent on America's roadways just as quest...

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, expects to be able to catch up with the "minimum requirement" of customer demand for auto chips by the end of June, its chairman told US broadcaster CBS as per Reuters press release dated 3 May. Speaking to CBS' 60 Minutes in comments broadcast on Sunday, TSMC chairman Mark Liu said they first heard about the shortages in December and the following month began trying to squeeze out as many chips as possible for automakers. Significance: The semicond...