Posted on 12/06/2023 2:02:00 PM PST by FarCenter
WUXI, China/SHANGHAI -- More of China's biggest automakers have moved to procure more semiconductors from domestic sources as Beijing seeks to build a supply chain immune to U.S. trade restrictions.
Among them is Great Wall Motor, which says it has started making power semiconductors in a "breakthrough of a technological barrier" that marks "a new step forward."
This move reflects the growing importance of semiconductor devices in a Chinese auto industry that is shifting rapidly to electric and self-driving cars.
"With the rise of protectionism, automotive semiconductors have become a focus of global competition," Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said during a semiconductor industry conference on Wednesday in the city of Wuxi. "We can create a new automotive semiconductor industry."
The same day, CAAM touted a new committee dedicated to automotive semiconductors, making clear the aim of raising China's self-sufficiency for the components.
Power semiconductors, which control the flow of electric current, have a direct impact on an electric vehicle's driving range. Chinese EV leader BYD already makes its power semiconductors in-house.
Great Wall started making them this fall at a new plant in Wuxi operated by group company Wuxi Xindong Semiconductor Technology. The components are used in Haval sport utility vehicles, local media report.
A subsidiary of Great Wall Motor has begun making power semiconductors at a plant in Wuxi. (Photo by Shunsuke Tabeta) China's auto industry has also made a breakthrough in chips for data processing, which are considered harder to make due to the higher degree of microengineering.
Volvo Cars parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group released the 08 SUV in September under its Lynk & Co. brand. The vehicle contains Longying One, a chip made with 7-nanometer technology that processes images for driver assistance.
The developer of Longying One, SiEngine Technology, was founded in 2018 as a joint venture between the Geely group and chip designer Arm China. Geely plans to use the chip with other brands and models under its umbrella.
Shanghai-based EV startup Nio has established semiconductor development teams in China and the U.S. The company recently started to mass-produce chips used to control lidar -- light detection and ranging -- sensors that assist automatic brake systems.
And?
A Chinese made self driving car? That should go well.
China is in desperate financial shape. These companies are all “private” state corporations. That is, companies owned by CCP members. So, they will dump product on Western markets at below cost to bring in foreign exchange. If Western countries allow this, it will devastate Western economies. The only answer is to ban all Chinese companies when they do this. I just don’t see that happening as the Chinese know who to bribe.
The reason China does this is companies are not in business for profit. They are in business to provide jobs and, thus, social stability. That’s the only thing that matters to the CCP.
China is beginning to export more vehicles. There is a move in China to reduce the imported part content of China’s exported manufactured goods. This means that China gets a bigger slice of “value added” in its exports.
Musk has said that his only real rivals are the chinese electric car companies.
no mention of how far along they are on self driving.
They have a lot of ideas and say a lot of things.
Who says the Chinese don't have a sense of humor!
Using Chinese semiconductors is as absurd as using Chinese servers and other IT gear due to their being leveraged as instruments of espionage and sabotage.
We did the same things to Russia in the past, and those same things may come back to bite us in the ass if we allow our economy to become dependent upon their cheap products.
” Japan ultimately decided to adopt a more-Western approach, including manufacturing outside of Japan.”
Japan got rich before they aged out. They developed their manufacturing abroad and the companies bring money home to pay for their social programs. They’re developing robots to take care of the elderly.
The Chinese not only won’t do that, but they also can’t. They aged out before they got rich and the CCP would never trust anyone to do what the Japanese are doing, bring the money home.
Incidentally, the thousands of Chinese arriving in Mexico to cross our southern border are mostly draft age men. They aren’t waiting for Xi to declare war and force them to fight in Taiwan. At least, I hope that’s why they’re here, because Biden is letting them all in.
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