TOKYO — Japanese electronics maker Hitachi said Wednesday it would normalise supply of parts to Nissan Motor from next week, after a shortage forced the carmaker to temporarily close plants.
Subsidiary Hitachi Automotive Systems will be able to offer a regular supply of "engine control units" after negotiating for a sufficiently-sized batch of custom-made chips from STMicroelectronics of Switzerland, Hitachi said.
The Japanese firm was unable to secure enough chips recently to build the key auto part supplied to carmakers including Nissan.
As a result, Nissan had to suspend operations at four Japanese and two US assembly plants for three days.
"Hitachi Automotive Systems now expects to meet procurement volume requirements, starting from August of this year," a Hitachi statement said.
"As a result, it will be able to ship the required volumes of ECUs (engine control units) with no further delays," it said.
Automobile demand in Japan and elsewhere has outpaced chip supplies from STMicroelectronics, a Hitachi spokesman said, adding that Nissan had not asked Hitachi for compensation for the disruption.
The news helped lift Hitachi's shares at the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 3.80 percent, outpacing the headline Nikkei index, which added 2.70 percent.
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