As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact global supply chains, the semiconductor chip shortage is now expected to get worse for the automotive industry.

According to AlixPartners, the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage is expected to cost the global automotive industry $210 billion in revenue in 2021. The is the New York-based consulting firm's third estimate issued this year on the financial impact of the chip shortage, with it first predicting $61 billion impact back in January and then upwardly revising its estimates to $110 billion in May.

"Of course, everyone had hoped that the chip crisis would have abated more by now, but unfortunate events such as the COVID-19 lockdowns in Malaysia and continued problems elsewhere have exacerbated things," said Mark Wakefield, global co-leader of the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners, in a press statement.

AlixPartners is now forecasting that 7.7 million units of production will be lost for automakers in 2021, up from 3.9 million from its May forecast.

The global chip shortage began late last year when automakers had underestimated demand as pandemic restrictions eased. Since then, the crisis has continued as the coronavirus pandemic and other outside factors impacted manufacturers throughout the year. Currently, it takes a record 21 weeks to fill chip orders, Bloomberg reports, and auto executives estimate the shortage could span multiple years.

Global automakers, including Ford (F  ) and General Motors (GM  ), have warned investors of massive earnings cuts this year due to the shortage, with automakers cutting back shifts and production volume. Still, these ongoing efforts will not benefit exhausted stockpiles, and other industries do not have any chips to spare.

"The barrel is empty, there's nothing left to scrape," Dan Hearsch, managing director of AlixPartners automotive and industrial practice, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "Going forward, sales will suffer. Sales hadn't suffered because there was enough inventory to draw from. It's not there anymore."

Despite the ongoing shortage, the semiconductor industry has outperformed the broader market in the past year, with the S&P 500 Semiconductors Select Industry Index one year trailing total return currently at nearly 78% compared to the benchmark S&P 500 (SPY  ) return of 37.24%.

For investors looking to add semiconductor stocks to their portfolio, exchange-traded funds (ETF) can help reduce the risk associated with individual stocks by holding a larger basket of companies in the industry.

Top semiconductor ETFs based on one year trailing total returns currently are VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH  ), iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX  ), and Invesco Dynamic Semiconductors ETF (PSI  ), each rising by 63%, 62%, and 84%, respectively.