Mercedes-Benz delaying car deliveries due to chip crisis: Report

The global auto industry has been reeling under pressure due to the chip crisis. Since early 2021, the pandemic hammered auto industry is witnessing severe chip shortage. This has resulted in several automakers cutting productions, factory closures, delayed delivery of vehicles etc. Mercedes-Benz has become the latest carmaker to feel the heat, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

The German luxury carmaker has reportedly disclosed that the waiting period for the Mercedes cars. The waiting period could go up to more than a year as well, as the automaker has said.

Mercedes-Benz head Ola Kallenius has reportedly said that demand is huge for the Merc cars and at the same time, there are severe limitations. He also said that for some models, the waiting times are much longer, in some cases over a year.

According to two German luxury car giants, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, the global chip crisis is unlikely to go away until 2023 due to an underlying effect of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the two automakers believe that the impact of chip shortage on vehicle production should be less severe in 2023 compared to this year.

The global chip crisis has been affecting the auto industry's production schedule for the majority of 2021. While just a few months back, the industry was slowly recovering from the supply chain issues, a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in South-East Asia has again hammered the recovery process.

As a result, automotive assembly plants across the world are producing lesser vehicles or sitting idle or frequently announcing production holidays. Toyota, one of the biggest auto manufacturers in the world has felt the effect of the semiconductor shortage last month. The Japanese auto company had to pause production at its plants in the US, Canada, Mexico and other parts of the world.