Hyundai Motor’s chief operating officer Jose Munoz said the South Korean automaker wants to develop its own chips to reduce reliance on chipmakers.
Some auto makers have closed down their manufacturing units due to a shortage of semiconductors, triggered partly by surging demand for laptops and other electronic products during the pandemic.
Hyundai temporarily suspended some factories. Jose Munoz told reporters the worst has passed for the industry chip shortage, adding Hyundai had the toughest months in August and September.
He said the company’s parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis would play a key role in the in-house development plan.
Hyundai Motor aims to deliver vehicles at the level of its original business plan in the fourth quarter, and offset some of its production losses next year.
Along with Toyota and Tesla, Hyundai is among a handful of automakers which increased global sales despite the chip shortage.
Hyundai decided not to cut orders during the pandemic, after seeing the Asian markets recover more strongly than expected, Munoz said.
Hyundai Motor is on track to produce electric cars in the United States in 2022, and is looking into both enhancing its existing factory in Alabama and increasing its production capacity.
He said the U.S. government needs to extend a proposed $4,500 tax credit incentive to U.S. electric vehicles made at non-union factories as well as union ones.
U.S. factories of Tesla and foreign automakers such as Hyundai and Toyota Motor are not unionized.