Turkey to emerge from automobile chip crisis through hometown production

As the environment grapples with a chip crisis that has particularly plagued global automakers, Turkey is counting on a local production center that makes components for the country’s ever-growing defense industry.

The National Electronics and Cryptology Research Institute (UEKAE) is wanting to develop the components at its Semiconductor Technology Research Laboratory (YITAL) in the Gebze district of the northwestern professional province of Kocaeli.

The UEKAE is the main Scientific and Technological Analysis Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK) Informatics and Data Security Research Centre (BILGEM).

A significant portion of the chip necessities of Turkish firms, including Roketsan, Aselsan and TÜBITAK Defense Sectors Research and Production Institute (SAGE), are met at the center.

YITAL executive Aziz Ulvi Çalışkan said they have the competence to produce pieces for the country’s primary homegrown car, developed by Turkey’s Automobile JV Group (TOGG), a consortium manufacturing the automobile.

“We happen to be in preparation because of this, we will be knocking on the door soon,” Çalışkan told Turkish daily Sabah.

Turkey is one of the handful of countries that style and produce all pieces of information secureness, from the algorithm to the chip, said UEKAE Supervisor Erdal Bayram.

The recent chip shortage plaguing global automakers has forced many to prevent production and there will not seem to be an immediate solution.

Three Turkish carmakers, Ford Otosan, Tofaş and Oyak Renault, recently got to temporarily suspend their development due to the chip supply crisis.

The shortage has forced production cuts worldwide and sparked worries across the industry, including at Volkswagen, Ford, Basic Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota, prompting countries to ramp up efforts to resolve the shortage.

The spread of COVID-19 has scrambled supply and demand patterns worldwide, and as a consequence caused a chip shortage.

Erdal says that they are confident they have the opportunity to adapt the development of microchips for the security industry to different sectors, including the automotive industry.

Çalışkan said it's possible for the domestically-developed chips to be utilized in TOGG.

“In the automobile industry, there exists a power control program that transfers electric power from the battery to the wheels. They are critical materials. We've important solutions, and we've the required technology,” he said.

Preparations are underway, he says. “TOGG also needs to turn to us, reveal their needs and condition us.”

“We produce according to buy. It could be the same for TOGG,” Çalışkan said.

The TOGG was formed in June 2018 by five professional giants - the Anadolu Group, BMC, Kök Group, Turkcell and Zorlu Keeping - in addition to an umbrella organization, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), to produce the country’s first domestically created electric vehicle (EV).

The consortium will produce five different models - an SUV, sedan, C-hatchback, B-SUV and B-MPV - by 2030.

The united states in December 2019 unveiled prototypes of an SUV and a sedan, both fully electric and C-segment models. Mass creation of the SUV will get started in 2022, with the sedan to check out.