Ford and GlobalFoundries have announced a collaboration following the global chip shortage that is still affecting vehicle production internationally.
Ford has released a press release to detail the non-binding agreement and how it will assist in advancing the semi-conductor development and manufacturer.
However, it seems that the United States may be the sole receiver of these chips, resulting in the shortage of vehicle production remaining in other parts of the world.
The two companies have not guaranteed any new plants will be built, but they have said they will “explore expanded semiconductor manufacturing opportunities to support the automotive industry.”
GlobalFoundries are a spin off from AMD and have since become the fourth largest semi-conductor manufacturer in the world.
Manufacturing chips for other companies like AMD, Qualcomm, and Samsung has allowed the company to go public, however the chip supply has been sold out till 2023.
Chips in vehicles has increased drastically in the past few years, added to the stress applied to the industry from Coronavirus, this shortage could take a while to recover from.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has alluded to part of the reasoning behind the partnership being the fact that they need the chips to stay ahead in the market, and with new vehicles hitting the shelves, like the Ford F-150, but with no capacity to manufacture them, people will look elsewhere.
The F-150 took a big hit in production due to the chip shortage, which only allowed it to fulfil 50% of requirement.
