People wearing face masks drive a vintage car in Mexico City, Mexico, on Oct. 25, 2020. (Photo by Ricardo Flores/Xinhua)

 A shortage of semiconductors for car manufacturers in North America could end by mid-year, but will cause a drop in vehicle production, President of Mexico's National Auto Parts Industry (INA) Oscar Albin said on Monday.

During a virtual press conference, Albin said the global scarcity of chips could lead to 264,186 fewer vehicles being produced in North America this year.

"We believe this problem ... will end by the middle of the year, and in July we will begin to resume our production capacity at 100 percent," Albin told reporters.

The North American region, made up of Canada, the United States and Mexico, could produce some 16.2 million vehicles this year, according to Albin.

The president of the INA described the lack of chips "as a problem but not a crisis," given its low impact.

Around 150 different models of cars are produced in the region, of which 47 have been affected by the shortage, he said.

Worldwide, chip shortages were largely aggravated this year by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and lockdown measures imposed to prevent its spread.