A global shortage of automotive chips has become critical this year, with almost all major automakers experiencing varying degrees of production cutbacks or short-term shutdowns resulting from a shortage caused by Chinese companies stockpiling chips. Although Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the world’s largest producer of chips, has activated its “super hot runs” queueing mode of production and has cut the production process in half, many orders are still delayed by 6 to 9 months for delivery. Since this year, the shortage of automotive chips has led to an increasingly prominent phenomenon of car production. Volkswagen has not only cut production in China but also experienced major disruptions in global car production; Ford has cut production in the United States; Nissan, Honda, and Daimler have also experienced short-lived production shutdowns. The impact on Chinese automakers was relatively minor, at least not that obvious until the end of last year, due to …