The government prepares follow-up measures for the Future Car-Semiconductor Solidarity and Cooperation Council
Announced’Strategy to Respond to the Short-Term Supply and Demand of Semiconductor for Vehicles and Strengthen Industrial Capability’
Emergency support for customs administration equivalent to Corona 19 in case of supply and demand disruption
Supported 204.7 billion won in R&D for 3 years including the development of future vehicle semiconductors
[지앤이타임즈] In the event of a disruption in the import of semiconductors for vehicles, which are key parts of future vehicles such as electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, emergency support for customs administration equivalent to Corona 19 will be promoted for items that are concerned about stopping production by domestic companies.
On the 10th, the government held the 6th Innovation Growth BIG3 Promotion Meeting at the Government Complex in Seoul on the 10th, and jointly announced a strategy to respond to short-term supply and demand of semiconductors for vehicles and strengthen industrial capabilities.
This strategy discussed specific measures to respond to short-term supply and demand of semiconductors for vehicles, strengthen mid- to long-term industrial capabilities, and solidarity and cooperation between automobile-semiconductor companies, discussed in the’Future Vehicle-Semiconductor Solidarity and Cooperation Council’, which was launched on the 4th.
First, as a short-term supply and demand response strategy, we will closely consult with major countries, overseas semiconductor companies, and associations using public-private cooperation channels, and provide rapid customs clearance support for automotive semiconductor parts to prevent disruption in automobile production.
Nevertheless, in the event of an import disruption, emergency support measures for customs administration equivalent to Corona 19 will be applied to items that are concerned about discontinuation of production by domestic companies.
Emergency measures will be taken such as rapid customs clearance of raw materials, support for business stability, special cases for air freight rates, and relief of difficulties in overseas customs clearance.
In addition, it will promptly review the self-isolation exemption upon entry and exit of related businessmen and promote the corona 19 vaccination.
In addition, the vehicle semiconductor development strategy will be promoted through the establishment of a vehicle semiconductor safety and reliability test infrastructure, a consultation channel between the automobile-semiconductor industry, and a technology development roadmap.
◇ Vehicle semiconductors, core parts of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles
Vehicle semiconductor refers to a semiconductor that senses, analyzes, judges, controls, and drives information on the driving and safety conditions of a vehicle.
Depending on the component group, it is classified into semiconductors for powertrain such as engines, motors, and batteries, semiconductors for chassis control such as steering, braking, and safety, and semiconductors for infotainment such as audio, video, and navigation.
The global market is worth $38 billion, leading global companies such as NXP and Infineon, but there is no absolute powerhouse yet.
In Korea, companies such as Samsung Electronics, Telechips, and Nextchip are designing and selling automotive semiconductors, but there is a significant gap from global rankings focusing on additional services such as infotainment and communication rather than core semiconductors such as powertrain and chassis control.
In recent years, automotive semiconductors are attracting attention because the performance of semiconductors is emerging as a key component that determines vehicle functions, safety, and convenience as future vehicles such as electric vehicles are shifting to convergence control technologies such as autonomous driving and infotainment.
Moreover, since the third quarter of last year, automobile demand recovery faster than expected, and concerns over excessive demand and supply of semiconductors have led to a shortage of semiconductors for vehicles.
In particular, due to the difficult supply and demand of automotive electronic system control chips (MCUs), production disruptions of major global automakers are becoming visible, as many global companies such as Volkswagen, Ford, and Toyota have cut production.
Since automotive semiconductors require high reliability and safety, there are only a few foundries that can be produced, so there is a limit in responding to excess demand in the short term.
Although the domestic automobile industry’s supply and demand situation is in a relatively good situation, it is expected that supply and demand will continue to suffer until at least 3Q.
◇ Supported KRW 204.7 billion for 3 years for R&D related to automotive semiconductors
The domestic automotive-semiconductor industries each have the world’s best capabilities, but the domestic automotive semiconductor ecosystem is still insufficient, and the domestic auto-semiconductor industry is dependent on overseas for 98% of automotive semiconductors.
As the domestic ecosystem is immature, it is difficult to fundamentally solve this shortage of automotive semiconductors in Korea in a short period of time.
However, it is difficult to achieve economies of scale due to low profitability and insufficient platform standardization, compared to several trillion won for vehicle semiconductor process investment.
Moreover, due to the nature of vehicles in which people ride, development difficulties are high because high levels of reliability and safety are required against severe temperature, humidity, and shock for a long life.
Automotive semiconductors require many years or more of time and cost from design to manufacturing to actual vehicle testing, so cooperation centered on finished vehicle manufacturers, which is a demanding company, is essential.
However, even though automobiles and semiconductors are the two major industries in Korea, there is no solidarity and cooperation ecosystem due to passive cooperation and low mutual understanding.
Accordingly, the government has prepared and promoted a mid- to long-term strategy for vehicle semiconductor technology development.
Due to the nature of the automotive semiconductor industry, long-term close cooperation between demand-supply companies is required, and the’future car-semiconductor alliance/cooperation consultative body’ is operated.
In the mid to long term, we will discover and support a cooperation model that is linked between automobile companies and semiconductor companies (foundry, fabless, etc.).
In order to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic vehicle semiconductor supply chain (Value Chain), support for technology development, performance and certification, etc. will be reinforced and related infrastructure construction will also be promoted.
To this end, we will actively support the self-sufficiency of semiconductors and parts for vehicles through related R&D, such as the next-generation intelligent semiconductor technology development business and autonomous driving technology development innovation business.
This year’s R&D budget of 51.3 billion won will be provided for a total of 204.7 billion won over the three years.
In addition, the government plans to carry out follow-up measures without disruption, such as building an infrastructure for testing semiconductor functional safety and reliability for vehicles to become self-sufficient in semiconductors for vehicles, and opening an online platform linked to supply and demand.
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