Smart vehicle makers scramble for key parts PCBs and MLCCs as AI demand soaks up supply

Chinese smart vehicle makers have been hit by another setback as a global components shortage collides with surging prices of raw materials, driven by the artificial intelligence boom.

It would take at least a year for the global supply chain to ramp up production of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) – two key parts that make vehicles intelligent – to meet rising demand, according to industry officials and analysts.

“The components, though small, play a key role in the automotive industry’s effort to make millions of cars more autonomous and smarter,” Chen Jinzhu, CEO of the consultancy Shanghai Mingliang Auto Service, told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday.

“Market demand for electric vehicles [EVs] is falling, but component supply remains a thorny issue for leading players since they focus on intelligence to make their cars attractive to consumers.”

Industry officials said the global auto sector was facing a 20 to 30 per cent shortage of components, with prices more than tripling over the past year.

The crunch stems from explosive AI growth and the rapid buildout of AI data centres worldwide.