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Since the pandemic began, it's been anything but business as usual for workers like Chris Pena at the Ford assembly plant outside Chicago.
自疫情爆发以来，对于芝加哥郊区福特装配厂的克里斯·佩纳这样的工作者来说，一切都和往常不一样了。
You know just logistically getting parts in from all over the U.S and all over the globe has been really challenging.
你知道，光是从美国和全球各地运送零部件到这来就非常困难。
And it's been a stop and go through these past two years.
过去的两年里一直是走走停停。
At Chicago assembly plant we can turn out, you know, thousands of cars per day.
在这个芝加哥的装配厂，我们每天可以生产几千辆车。
But you know this has really slowed production down and this week we're on a layoff temporarily.
但你知道，这的确减缓了生产，本周我们临时进行了裁员。
It's the latest in a series of work stoppages at plants across the country as Ford and other manufacturers struggle to meet increased demand for new vehicles amid a global shortage of semiconductors or chips, which control electronic systems in most vehicles.
这是美国各地工厂一系列停工中的最新一例。福特和其他制造商难以满足人们日益增长的新车需求，目前全球半导体或芯片短缺，而它们控制着大多数汽车的电子系统。
It's not just one microchip.
这不仅涉及一个微芯片。
I mean these cars have, you know, multiple microchips in them that run different components.
我是说，这些汽车里有多个微芯片，它们操控不同的部件。
General Electronics are being impacted by, you know, by this as well.
通用电器公司也受到了这个的影响。
John Dallesasse is a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Illinois.
约翰·达尔萨塞是伊利诺伊大学电气工程学教授。
He says automotive manufacturers reacted to the lockdowns and layoffs brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and ordered fewer microchips incorrectly anticipating reduced demand for new vehicles.
他说，汽车制造商对冠状病毒疫情带来的封锁和裁员做出了反应，他们错误地预测新车需求量会减少，因此订购了较少的微芯片。
They were expecting the demand of things to crash.
他们当时以为需求会骤降。
In response to that, they reduced their forecasts to the chip suppliers.
对此，他们降低了给芯片供应商的预估数量。
That caused them to reallocate their capacity to other places.
这导致芯片供应商将产能重新分配到其他地方。
And when the demand came back faster than expected, the automakers no longer had a place in the queue, so to speak.
当需求恢复的速度快于预期时，可以这么说，汽车制造商在队伍中已经没位置了。
And that caused the shortage there.
这就导致了汽车制造商那里的短缺。
Dallesasse says another factor in the shortage is the lack of domestic production.
达尔萨塞说，短缺的另一个因素是国内生产不足。
I think in 1990, the U.S had 37 percent of the global semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
我记得在1990年，美国拥有全球37%的半导体产能。
Today it's down to 12 percent and a lot of that has gone overseas, particularly to Asia.
如今，这一比例已降至12%，其中很多都流向了海外，尤其是亚洲。
Despite those global supply shortages, when production is underway, vehicles like these Ford explorers continue to roll off the Chicago assembly line without semiconductors in them, creating other issues.
尽管全球供应短缺，但生产还在继续，像这些福特探索者这样的汽车持续在芝加哥装配线上被生产出来，但没有配备半导体，这就产生了其他问题。
Production still goes even if we can't get the part.
即使我们拿不到这个零件，生产也照样进行。
We're going to try and build most of the car that we can.
我们将尽我们的可能制造出一辆汽车的大部分。
And then get it to a lot which is being leased, you know, by Ford motor company there's multiple lots being leased where they can just put cars for now.
然后把它运到租的空地上，你知道，福特汽车公司租了很多空地，他们可以把汽车暂时放在那里。
Which is where they sit and wait by the thousands for chips to arrive and workers to complete the installation.
这些汽车就停在那里等着，等待成千上万的芯片到达，等待工人完成安装。
We haven't been able to go to full production.
我们还没进入满负荷生产状态。
So right now it's where in repair mode and trying to fix the cars that had been built with the actual components as we get them in and right now we're not getting them in ... we're not getting these components in fast enough.
所以现在是在整修模式下，努力修复那些用实际有的部件制造的汽车，而现在我们没有……我们现在组装部件的速度还不够快。
As new vehicles sit and wait by the tens of thousands for semiconductors to complete them, Americans looking to buy used vehicles are paying 40 percent more on average than they were just over a year ago.
由于数以万计的新车需坐等半导体到货才能完成制造，意向购买二手车的美国人平均要比一年前多支付40%。
The U.S bureau of labor statistics reports new vehicle prices also rose 12 percent in the same period.
美国劳工统计局报告说，新车价格也比同期上涨了12%。
