The automotive industry is approaching a tipping point where vehicles in advanced economies will be actively phasing out internal combustion engines. Electronics manufacturers are very worried about this trend, since there are twice as many semiconductor components in an electric vehicle as in a car with an internal combustion engine. In ten years, the fleet of electric vehicles will increase tenfold.

Image Source: Nikkei Asian Review

Similar predictions were shared in an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review by Chua Chee Seong, president and managing director of Asia-Pacific chip maker Infineon. According to him, now the share of electric vehicles is measured by several percent, but over the next two decades, the number of their fleet will increase tenfold.

The second largest automaker, Volkswagen, has already announced its intentions to increase the share of electric vehicles in the structure of European sales to 50% by 2030, and other market participants are also setting ambitious goals. If last year Daimler expected to increase the share of electrified cars to 50% by 2030, then this week one of the oldest automakers said it would accelerate the pace of the transition to electric traction, without naming specific targets.

Regarding the shortage of components, an Infineon spokesman said that it would be possible to talk about improvement in the situation in four or six months, not earlier, since such is the duration of the production cycle. Even if the main market players now invest in increasing production volumes, the effect will be felt by the end of this year, or even by the beginning of the next. New venture construction in this industry typically takes up to two years, the head of Infineon added. This company has increased its capital expenditures for this year by about 10% to $ 1,9 billion.