Honda Motor Co. has suspended car production in Mexico on Tuesday due to an ongoing shortage of Ansys chips. The company has not specified when operations will resume. This marks the first time a car manufacturer has confirmed production disruptions due to a shortage of Nexperia chips.
Tensions between the Netherlands and Beijing surrounding Ansys have led to a global shortage of automotive components. Ansys is a semiconductor company headquartered in the Netherlands, which was sold to a Chinese company several years ago. Reports suggest that senior executives from the Chinese company transferred Ansys’ secrets to China and planned to dissolve Ansys’ European subsidiary, prompting the Dutch government to intervene and freeze Ansys’ management for a year. Subsequently, Beijing announced a ban on chip exports from Ansys’ Chinese subsidiary. Ansys’ Chinese subsidiary is responsible for the backend packaging of most of the wafers produced by its European subsidiaries.
Honda relies on Ansys chips in some of its components. These chips are widely used in automotive electronic systems, controlling various equipment from lighting, safety airbag systems to door locks, and windows. Although not considered advanced chips, finding alternative partners in a short period is challenging due to their large production volume.
In response to the shortage, Honda is working to minimize the impact on its operations. The affected facility in Mexico is the Celaya car factory located in central Mexico, with an annual production capacity of about 200,000 vehicles, mainly producing the HR-V compact SUV. In 2024, the plant produced over 190,000 vehicles, with only 40,000 sold locally in Mexico, with most cars exported to the United States.
Honda’s motorcycle production in another Mexican factory remains unaffected. Similarly, Toyota has started adjusting production in the United States and Canada this week due to the Ansys chip shortage. The company has not disclosed the specific scale of production cuts or the expected duration. North America is Toyota’s main manufacturing base, and prolonged production slowdowns could affect the financial performance for the fiscal year ending in March 2026.
In 2024, Honda sold approximately 1.61 million vehicles, accounting for about 40% of its global sales in the North American region, including the United States and Mexico.