Mercedes-Benz vehicle waiting times now over a year due to chip shortage; Malaysia still mostly unaffected

The ongoing global semiconductor shortage is continuing to wreak havoc on the automotive industry, hampering production and delaying customer deliveries. Not even a company with the industrial might of Daimler is immune with this, with Mercedes-Benz buyers now facing a wait of over a year for their new cars, Reuters reported.

Chairman and Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius broke the bad news in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “Demand is huge at Mercedes-Benz and at the same time there are unfortunately severe limitations. For some models the waiting times are longer than we would like, in some cases over a year,” he said.

Källenius repeated the statement he made at the Munich Motor Show earlier this month, saying that the shortage could drag on to 2023 due to structural problems and persistent lockdowns in key supplier countries such as Malaysia. “Several chip suppliers have been referring to structural problems with demand. This could influence 2022, [although the situation] in may be more relaxed in 2023,” he said during the expo.

We have previously reached out to Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM) regarding the impact of the chip shortage on the local market. President and CEO Sagree Sardien said that CKD locally-assembled models are largely unaffected by the disruption, although deliveries may still be delayed. Vehicle specs should also remain unchanged save for certain instances.

“Most of our cars in Malaysia are not affected by the restriction. However, in very few cases, certain specifications will be retrofitted when the affected part is made available later or, as we have aligned with respective customers, will be removed from the cars without retrofit,” she said, adding that Stuttgart expects the shortage to continue affecting businesses in the second half of the year.

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