compel chip supply for Jeep plant

U.S. judge denies Stellantis supplier bid to compel chip supply for Jeep plant

Chipmaker NXP had said it doesn’t have a direct contractual agreement with JVIS-USA

A federal judge in Michigan on Friday denied a request to issue an emergency order forcing NXP Semiconductors to provide chips to a supplier of automaker Stellan s.

The supplier, JVIS-USA, had alleged that without the chips it has ordered, there will be an “imminent shutdown” of a Detroit factory that makes Stellan s’ profi t-genera ng Jeep Grand Cherokee. NXP responded that it has no direct contractual rela onship with JVIS-USA obliga ng it to send the chips.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis denied JVIS’ request for an emergency order to force shipment of the chips, saying NXP had shown it does not have them available. She also said issuing an order in favor of JVIS could harm other companies desperate for chips and result “in a line at the courthouse” of other cases.

“’Shortage’ might be too so of a word,” Dawkins Davis said while delivering her decision. “There’s really a drought of the semiconductors that are needed.”

JVIS-USA is a supplier of an electronic assembly that helps control the hea ng, cooling and ven la on systems for the Grand Cherokee, the Dodge Challenger and Charger, and the Chrysler 300.

The JVIS allega ons provide a rare window into how the global chip shortage -- which has disrupted produc on at Stellan s as well as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors -- has played out for one company in the middle of a long supply chain. The global automo ve chip crunch started late last year, when automakers and their suppliers failed to understand they needed to put in orders months ahead of me as the consumer electronics industry surged and took up chipmaking capacity. Continued on Page 8