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Anjani Trivedi

Want a New Factory to Make Car Chips? That’ll Be $4 Billion, Please

Starting from scratch with new fabs is a prohibitive solution to the current shortage of car semiconductors. Are government subsidies the answer?

Don’t expect a fast turnaround. — Don’t expect a fast turnaround.
Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg

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February 21, 2021, 10:00 PM UTC

No one really wants to make the chips automakers need.

In theory, chip manufacturers could build semiconductor fabrication facilities, or fabs, to meet the demand and help plug the hole. But the costs for the new foundries are prohibitive.