Shops waiting on cameras, radar sensors, and control modules for late-model vehicles should expect the problem to get worse before it gets better.
A shortage of dynamic random-access memory chips — DRAM, the semiconductor that powers ADAS systems, digital cockpits, and infotainment units — is tightening supply and driving up costs across the automotive industry.
The cause is AI: data centers building out artificial intelligence infrastructure are consuming enormous quantities of memory chips, and the manufacturers that produce them are chasing that higher-margin business instead of prioritizing automotive supply.
The result for collision shops is longer parts waits and higher costs on the modules and sensors that ADAS-equipped vehicles need to be restored to pre-loss condition.
Which vehicles are most affected
Premium vehicles, EVs, and models built on centralized computing platforms carry significantly more DRAM than conventional vehicles. S&P Global Mobility estimates DRAM content at $25 to $150 per vehicle, with the highest figures on platforms where ADAS, infotainment, and vehicle control functions run on a single chip.
Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology produce 88% of the world's automotive DRAM. SK Hynix has said its entire 2026 production is already sold out. New orders are already quoting with lead times exceeding 58 weeks, according to supply chain firm Fusion Worldwide.
The pressure extends beyond DRAM: eMMC devices used in vehicle control modules have seen price increases of 200%, and suppliers of NAND and NOR flash memory used in infotainment and control electronics are unable to confirm 2026 supply in some cases.
What it means for shops
This shortage is different from the pandemic-era microcontroller crisis that kept vehicles from being built. Analysts don't expect widespread production halts. The more immediate problem is parts pricing and availability, particularly for shops working on ADAS-heavy vehicles where sensor and module replacements are already a routine part of the repair.
Longer term, the situation is structural. S&P Global Mobility projects that older-generation DDR4 and LPDDR4 memory chips, used in the majority of vehicles currently in production, will begin disappearing from the market by 2028 as manufacturers phase them out in favor of newer chip types. That adds durability to a problem shops are already starting to see at the counter.
The DRAM shortage is one more cost pressure layered on top of tariff impacts on collision parts and growing repair complexity on late-model vehicles.
