The semiconductor crunch that has battered the auto sector leaves carmakers with a stark choice: pay up, stock up or risk getting stuck on the sidelines as chipmakers focus on more lucrative business elsewhere.

Car manufacturers including Volkswagen, Ford and General Motors have cut output as the chip market was swept clean by makers of consumer electronics such as smartphones - the chip industry’s preferred customers because they buy more advanced, higher-margin chips.

REUTERS - Russia’s standards agency said on Tuesday it had been informed about the recall of 3,968 Ford (F.N) cars sold between 2011 and 2016.

The cars, including the Focus, C-Max, Mondeo and Kuga models were recalled because of a possible issue with the clutch pressure plates, the agency said.

AFP - Ford will increase its investment in electrification, planning to spend $11 billion by 2022 to create hybrid and all-electric versions of its vehicles, the company announced Sunday at the Detroit Auto Show.