Nissan’s Giant Plant in Smyrna, TN Closing for 2 Weeks

[john_pifer]

Just south of Nashville. It’s been in operation since the early ‘80s.

Tenn. Nissan plant to close for 2 weeks due to chip shortage
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/tenn-nissan-plant-to-close-for-2-weeks-due-to-chip-shortage

 

[JeffKeryk]

The semiconductor shortage will likely plague industries well into next year.
The other killer is the shortage of truck drivers.

 

[tyman]

Sucks to suck.

 

[92saturnsl2]

They could have pulled a Ford and kept them rolling out of the factory, then store them "chip-less" in empty parking lots all around the city.

 

[CKN]

Sucks to suck.

HM...it's the "chips thing"..........

 

[tyman]

HM...it's the "chips thing"..........

"Sure it is."
/wink

/wink

 

[Lubener]

Two week shutdowns are common this time of the year for other reasons such as new year re-tooling. Not a big deal. Car makers could be running out of space to store all the already made "brainless" vehicles.

I have heard that a glass shortage exists from all the COVID test vials being used is ONE of a few reasons for the chip shortage. Glass is used in the making of semiconductors.

 

[Kira]

Besides this truth and that assumption, don't forget any industry's capacity to lie.

Yes, people lie for cash.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

How is that little Renault Nissan Mitsu plant in Aguascalientes doing?
Do stoneage Versa need chips to run?
I just say that, as I got bit by one Note. Though I completely blame it on a Chinese oil filter; Wrong or right.
"I should've known better with a car like you, that I would hate everything that you do, And I do, hey hey hey ... "

 

[Barkleymut]

My 1988 Nissan Pulsar got 40mpg and it had a carb....maybe a shift back to more basic cars is in order.....too bad 90% of Americans want features they will never use.

 

[KCJeep]

Or some of us get stuck with features we will never use because it's hard to find a nicer car without all that stuff on there already. Avoiding sunroofs for example is very difficult on nicer cars.

 

[Barkleymut]

dont need a chip for a sunroof!

 

[andyd]

Total idiot question. Every piece of 'electronics' needs chips, Why aren't they made locally?

 

[JeffKeryk]

Total idiot question. Every piece of 'electronics' needs chips, Why aren't they made locally?

This goes back to the early 1980's when chip outsourcing started to become the norm.
When I started in semiconductors, perhaps 70% of fabs were here; Silicon Valley, back east, Arizona, etc. Intel, AMD, Texas Instruments, etc.
ST Micro was "the Intel of Europe". Japan was also a major player. But North America was the dominant region.
All that's changed; now we have TSMC (Taiwan) and Samsung (Korea) as the big boys.

To build a "foundry" (chip fabrication plant), you need about $3B for bricks and mortar. Clean rooms and miles of stainless steel (lotsa dangerous chemicals). Then you need as much as $10B more for the chip making equipment.

The current climate in America is more semiconductor manufacturing friendly. TSMC is building a new plant in Arizona. The fab will build 5nm chips; that's 5 billionths of a meter for the smallest traces (wires) on the most dense chip layer. It should open in 2024.

 

[atikovi]

Avoiding sunroofs for example is very difficult on nicer cars.

Who wouldn't want a sunroof on a nicer car? I'll give up a radio before the sunroof any day.

 

[atikovi]

dont need a chip for a sunroof!

Unfortunately you do on most cars now. How do you think the auto open and close functions work?

 

[KCJeep]

Who wouldn't want a sunroof on a nicer car? I'll give up a radio before the sunroof any day.

To each his own that's why they have options. They take up headroom, can leak, can crack, let extra heat into the car in summer, require extra maintenance and add significant cost to the purchase price of the car. Unfortunately all they've done is become more common and get even bigger as well as get bundled into even lower trim options than before. For someone who won't ever use it or doesn't want it those are notable negatives.

One of my best buddies however is more like you I'd think he'd go without tires over a sunroof LOL.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Total idiot question. Every piece of 'electronics' needs chips, Why aren't they made locally?

andyd, You talking to Me? I was trialing sarcasm.
I'm an ex Bell Labs engineer. I have been involved in chip fab, crystal fab, pretty much lived in a clean room for 25 years.
Western Electric / AT&T had fab facilities in Allentown and Reading, PA. We did everything, in house even board fab.
Then management started routin what was not considered a core competency. Pretty soon this evolved in to Manufacturing being outsourced. And my job vaporized in 2002.
Like Jeffery said. some fab is coming stateside with a large investment. - Ken

 

[Barkleymut]

Unfortunately you do on most cars now. How do you think the auto open and close functions work?

Just my opinion, but this is the problem. No one "needs" auto open and close, I mean how hard is it to hold a little switch for 3 seconds while a sunroof opens?

Told my wife recently that her 2009 Flex is the newest car she will ever own ....that didn't go so well.

 

[atikovi]

Just my opinion, but this is the problem. No one "needs" auto open and close, I mean how hard is it to hold a little switch for 3 seconds while a sunroof opens?

Who needs power windows, cruise control or keyless entry either. It's a convenience. Nice to be able to walk up to your car on a 100 degree day and open all the windows and sunroof with the remote before getting in to let the superheated air out first.