By Michael Elkins
American vehicle manufacturer General Motors (NYSE:GM) announced Thursday, alongside Globalfoundries Inc (NASDAQ:GFS), that the two have entered into a strategic, long-term agreement. The agreement establishes a dedicated capacity corridor exclusively for GM's chip supply. Through this direct supply agreement, GFS will manufacture key chips for GM through their advanced semiconductor facility in upstate New York bringing a critical process to the U.S.
This first-of-its-kind agreement supports GM's strategy to reduce the number of unique chips needed to power increasingly complex and tech-laden vehicles. With this strategy, chips can be produced in higher volumes and are expected to offer better quality and predictability, maximizing high value content creation for the end customer.
"We see our semiconductor requirements more than doubling over the next several years as vehicles become technology platforms," said Doug Parks, GM executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain. "The supply agreement with GlobalFoundries will help establish a strong, resilient supply of critical technology in the U.S. that will help GM meet this demand, while delivering new technology and features to our customers."
"At GF we are committed to working with our customers in new and innovative ways to best address the challenges of today's global supply chains," said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GF. "GF will expand its production capabilities exclusively for GM's supply chain, enabling us to strengthen our partnership with the automotive industry and New York State, while further accelerating automotive innovation with U.S.-based manufacturing for a more resilient supply chain."
Shares of GM and GFS are up 0.58% and 3.43%, respectively near end of day trading on Thursday.