The global shortage of semiconductors or chips in the aftermath of the Covid-19 led pandemic has eased as per a report by Crisil. A development that led most automakers to cut down production significantly and postpone the launch of new models or to put them to production through 2020, 2021, 2022 and a good part of 2023 has finally eased to iron out any supply chain disruptions that may be there.
Expected to address and improve predictive demand forecast, the better availability of chips should enable better production schedules. By FY2025-26, Crisil analysts are of the opinion that demand-supply dynamics should be more balance with additional manufacturing capacities getting commissioned.
With the chips possessing distinct electrical properties that make them the cornerstone of all electronic equipment and devices, it is the auto industry that has come to use them for a variety of functions as automobiles turn increasingly software driven. While the computer and communication equipment (C&C) segment consumes roughly 63 percent of the chips produced, the auto industry consumes roughly 13 percent of them. The other industrial segments consume about 12 percent.
With new developments such as autonomous and EVs, the use of semiconductors in automobiles is only slated to rise. With passenger vehicles the recipient of most technological innovations ahead of other segments such as two-wheelers, three-wheelers and commercial vehicles, it should not come as a surprise that they consume about 1,500 chips on average – the highest among all automobile types.
As more advanced electronic features are incorporated, the use for chips increases. The electric passenger vehicles, for example, use almost twice as many chips as internal combustion engine (ICE) passenger vehicles do. The improving supply and slowing demand for computers and mobile phones is therefore looked upon as a blessing in disguise for automobiles and their manufacturers.
Anuj Sethi, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings, mentioned, “The chip shortage faced by Indian passenger vehicle makers is easing, with current availability at 85-90 percent of total requirement. The production loss on account of the chip shortage, which had halved to about 300,000 PVs on-year in fiscal 2023, is estimated to have further declined to under 200,000 PVs by the end of September 2023.”
Most passenger vehicle manufacturers are currently operating at near optimal capacity utilisation due to stronger-than-anticipated demand. New orders to be serviced remains high at about 700,000 units at the end of September 2023.
The easing of chip shortage should help automakers honour new orders with better prediction and faster production. Global automobile demand, severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, made a strong recovery in the latter part of FY2021-22. It caught automobile manufacturers off guard as they had not placed substantial orders for chips.
The surge in demand for personal computers, laptops and mobile phones, driven by work from home, virtual learning and remote healthcare services, led to a significant chip procurement challenge for the automakers.
Geographically, the chip ecosystem is skewed, with western nations dominating chip architecture, design, manufacturing equipment, specialised materials and chemicals. Semiconductor fabs1 on the other hand are concentrated in eastern nations, such as Taiwan and South Korea.
Given the criticality of chips in the defense and aerospace industries, the United States and the European Union have offered incentives of about USD 100 billion for localisation of semiconductor fabs. As a result, many global players are slated to spend about USD 360 billion towards setting up new facilities, which would be operational by 2025 and 2026.
In the Indian context, demand for chips will continue to increase over the medium term, driven by the gradual rise in EV adoption and growing demand for advanced feature-laden ICE vehicles.
Volvo Cars Selects Aptiv’s Gen 8 Radar For Next-Generation Safety Systems
- By MT Bureau
- May 13, 2026
Aptiv has announced that Volvo Cars has awarded its Gen 8 radar platform for deployment in future vehicle programs, with production scheduled to begin in 2028.
The partnership centres on enhancing the perception capabilities of Volvo’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) as both companies shift toward software-defined architectures.
The Gen 8 platform is Aptiv's latest advancement in high-resolution sensing, utilising proprietary antenna and silicon designs to support AI-powered and machine learning-powered safety functions.
Key Capabilities of the Gen 8 Radar Platform:
- High-Resolution Perception: Superior angular measurement and discrimination allow the system to resolve complex driving scenarios with high precision.
- Environmental Robustness: Engineered to maintain high performance in adverse weather and challenging urban environments where traditional sensors may struggle.
- Sensor Fusion Optimisation: Designed for seamless integration with cameras and other perception layers, providing a more reliable "world model" for the vehicle's computer.
- Scalability: A modular architecture that allows Volvo to deploy the technology across various vehicle lines and global markets efficiently.
Alwin Bakkenes, Head of Software Engineering at Volvo Cars, said, “Volvo Cars has always been guided by a belief that safety should be designed around people and real‑world driving conditions. Aptiv’s Gen 8 radar platform helps us deliver even more robust perception capabilities to our advanced driver assistance systems across increasingly complex environments and driving scenarios.”
Matthew Cole, Senior Vice President, Sensors & Compute at Aptiv, added: “Volvo Cars’ commitment to protecting people inside and outside the vehicle has set the benchmark for automotive safety. Aptiv’s Gen 8 radar was designed with that same purpose in mind: delivering dependable, high-resolution perception that performs in a wide range of use cases and environmental conditions. We’re proud to support Volvo Cars as they continue advancing their safety ambitions across future vehicle programs.”
The collaboration reinforces Volvo Cars' long-term safety mission – aiming for a future with zero accidents, while positioning Aptiv as a primary technology partner in the evolution of intelligent, software-led vehicle safety systems.
Mercedes-Benz Partners n8n To Scale AI Workflows Globally
- By MT Bureau
- May 13, 2026
Mercedes-Benz has announced a strategic partnership with the German low-code automation provider n8n to roll out a global platform for AI-powered workflows.
The initiative is designed to move AI beyond isolated pilot projects and integrate it into everyday operations across R&D, production, sales, HR and IT.
The partnership emphasises digital sovereignty, with Mercedes-Benz utilising n8n’s self-hosted, cloud-agnostic model to maintain strict control over its data and processes within a European technology ecosystem.
The strategy categorises employees into ‘Takers’ (users), ‘Makers’ (who design workflows via n8n) and ‘Builders’ (who develop advanced software). The goal is to empower ‘Makers’ to actively shape AI-driven processes without deep coding knowledge.
n8n will act as the ‘glue’ in the Mercedes-Benz technology stack, connecting existing systems and enabling the deployment of AI agents that can resolve issues and make data-driven decisions autonomously.
The rollout follows a massive company-wide hackathon involving over 1,500 participants. The most successful use cases from this event are currently being transitioned into full-scale operational implementation.
Katrin Lehmann, Chief Information Officer, Mercedes-Benz, said, “Scaling AI takes more than technology, it’s about putting it to work in our core business. Together with n8n, we make it easy for our teams at Mercedes-Benz to turn ideas into measurable impact across our value chain and to actively shape how we operate.”
Jan Oberhauser, Founder & CEO, n8n, added, “What we are building together with Mercedes-Benz answers the question of how to move AI from pilot to production at a scale few can achieve.”
By adopting a modular and flexible low-code architecture, Mercedes-Benz aims to increase its ‘innovation velocity.’ The n8n platform allows the company to rapidly iterate on automation ideas while ensuring that the resulting workflows are governed, scalable and integrated with the brand's broader AI ecosystem. This move reinforces Mercedes-Benz’s commitment to an open, software-defined architecture as a primary factor in industrial competitiveness.
OPEN Alliance Calls For Standardisation To Support Surge In Automotive Ethernet
- By MT Bureau
- May 13, 2026
The OPEN Alliance, a leading industry consortium, has issued a call for greater strategic alignment across the automotive sector to unlock the full potential of ‘automotive ethernet’.
According to the newly released Automotive Ethernet – Architecture Change Drives Growth report from Tech Insights, vehicle Ethernet ports are projected to triple from approximately 962,000 sockets in 2025 to 3.42 million by 2032.
Despite this rapid growth, the analysis highlights a significant ‘adoption gap’. A small group of advanced Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) currently installs 4.5 times more Ethernet ports per vehicle than the market average, leading to high variability in maturity levels across different regions and manufacturers.
The report predicts that the average number of Ethernet sockets per vehicle is forecasted to rise from 11 in 2025 to 27 by 2030. While 100BASE-T1 remains common, its share is declining, 1000BASE-T1 is expected to become the dominant speed grade by 2030 to support high-bandwidth backbones.
The demand for 10BASE-T1S is gaining traction in body and infotainment domains, while 2.5GBASE-T1 is being adopted for advanced sensors and cameras. Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) is projected to underpin nearly 50 percent of all Ethernet-equipped vehicles by 2030.
Suma Prabhakara, President, OPEN Alliance, said, “Automotive Ethernet is set for rapid yet uneven growth as new architectures, higher sensor bandwidth and emerging applications drive a near-tripling of Ethernet sockets in vehicles by 2032. As regions like China grow in overall socket share but remain internally fragmented, the OPEN Alliance’s role in reducing variability and accelerating consistent, standards‑based adoption becomes even more important. We encourage OEMs and suppliers to align with our work and share their implementation experience.”
The report warns that fragmented strategies – where different OEMs use divergent implementation methods – risk keeping the cost of developing autonomous driving and next-generation systems ‘unnecessarily high.’
The OPEN Alliance advocates for the use of its standardised test suites to ensure interoperability and prevent costly integration delays.
Additionally, the report identifies geopolitics as the top risk factor for market stability. It also notes that SERDES (Serialiser/Deserialiser) technology will continue to grow alongside Ethernet rather than being displaced by it, as vehicles require a mix of high-speed data protocols to support complex sensor suites.
Samuel Sigfridsson, OPEN Alliance Board Member, added, “The industry cannot afford fragmented approaches. Tested, standards-based implementation will prevent the costly divergence that slows innovation.”
Representational image courtesy: Pexels/AmmyK
L&T Technology Services, Emerson Announce Strategic Partnership For Engineering Innovation
- By MT Bureau
- May 12, 2026
Bengaluru-headquartered L&T Technology Services (LTTS), a global leader in AI and Digital Engineering R&D, has entered into a strategic global partnership with Emerson, a global automation leader.
The strategic collaboration aims to accelerate system integration and product development across the industrial, transportation, semiconductor & aerospace and defence sectors.
Under the agreement, LTTS will act as a global System Integrator and technology development partner for Emerson’s NI (National Instruments) test and measurement platform. The partnership focuses on architecting software-defined, data-centric engineering environments that enhance system performance and sustainability.
As part of the understanding, LTTS will establish a dedicated CoE at its Mysuru campus in India. This hub will leverage NI hardware and software to drive applied innovation, test automation and validation workflows. The partners will co-develop solutions tailored for high-complexity sectors where resilience and engineering rigor are critical. The engagement also includes joint go-to-market initiatives and extended client support models to provide ‘lifecycle enablement’ for global enterprises.
Ritu Favre, President for Emerson’s Test and Measurement business, said, “Engineering environments are becoming increasingly software defined, data centric and interconnected. Our open, modular NI platform provides the architectural foundation organisations need to manage growing system complexity while accelerating validation and deployment cycles. Through our collaboration with LTTS as a global system integrator, we extend this platform into industry-specific implementations that help customers move from engineering uncertainty to operational confidence and leveraging the proven technology leadership of NI automated test and measurement solutions.”
Alind Saxena, Executive Director & President at LTTS, added, “Our clients in Mobility, Sustainability and Tech require engineering systems that are intelligent and future-ready. Our partnership with Emerson strengthens LTTS’ ability to architect and deploy such systems at scale.”
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