in particular have said they’re not going back to those bad old days and instead promised to actively restrict supply. Not quite as restricted as now but still lower. Quality of sales rather than quantity is the new mantra. “It's what we have learned with the semiconductor crisis,” Cartier said.
Car makers also have a range of shiny new levers to pull to help them protect residual values. For example, can bring the latest digital services, apps and even features to a second-hand car. With a click of a button, a used car can be better specced than when it was delivered to the first customer. Car makers are looking to the chip makers to supply the most sophisticated digital brain possible to ensure the car is upgradeable for the second/third/fouth owner. “The reason why we are changing this architecture is… to increase the residual value of the car,” said Thierry Cammal, the head ofGroup’s Software Factor, during an announcement earlier this year that it will collaborate with chip maker Qualcomm on future digital platforms.
With a simple update of the software to boost power and features and perhaps even the addition of an ‘S’ badge, it’s easy to imagine car makers upgrading used electric cars to a price bracket not far off that of a basic new version. And even if the car itself is approaching the end-game, the battery inside is likely to still have value for static energy storage.