Russian invasion expected to impact microchip shortage

Microchips have been in short supply for almost two years now. It's been impacting everyday life with a lot of the things we use from phones, laptops, toys and even cars.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, we may begin to see more microchip shortages.

Microchips have been in short supply for almost two years now. It’s been impacting everyday life with a lot of the things we use from phones, laptops, toys and even cars.

Now, that issue is only expected to get worse as the Russia and Ukrainian war continues.

“Ukraine unfortunately, supplies half of the world’s neon gas, which is an essential element in the operation of lasers needed to create these microchips,” Josh Planos, with the Better Business Bureau said.

It’s a small thing that most people probably wouldn’t think of but it could play a major role in expanding the shortage. For car dealerships, this is something they’ve been dealing with and finding new ways to adapt.

“Our production levels are down for this year,” Andy Goodyear with Honda of Lincoln said, “However, we still are getting in a lot of cars. The new way of buying cars now is pre-ordering. So, most all of our cars are sold before they’re even built.”

Goodyear says while the lot may look empty, there are still cars to be bought, just by pre-ordering.

The shortage has been impacting some manufacturers so much that ford just announced they would be shipping and selling SUVs without microchips and then have consumers come in at a later date to get the chips put in.

Goodyear said, he’s heard of this before but so far, not all manufacturers will be doing this.