BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen is taking proactive steps to secure the supply of strategically important chips by directly purchasing them from 10 manufacturers. The carmaker has formed direct partnerships with companies such as NXP Semiconductors, Infineon Technologies, and Renesas Electronics, moving away from relying on its suppliers to purchase chips.
Karsten Schnake, the head of Volkswagen’s taskforce for component supply, explained that these direct deals were initiated in October 2022 to ensure a reliable supply. “Global market capacity is not sufficient. We must get active,” added Dirk Grosse-Loheide, Volkswagen’s purchasing chief for the passenger car brand.
As the demand for chips in the automotive industry continues to rise, particularly due to the production of electric vehicles and the need for complex software, supply has struggled to keep up. Building new chip factories is a complex process, further exacerbating the supply shortage.
In July last year, Volkswagen and Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics announced their plans to jointly develop a new semiconductor. This marked Volkswagen’s first direct relationship with a second- and third-rank semiconductor supplier. Additionally, Berlin has been actively attracting major contract chipmakers by offering billions of euros in subsidies. Intel, based in the United States, and Taiwan-based TSMC have both announced their intention to establish manufacturing facilities in Germany.
While Volkswagen does not have a direct supply relationship with TSMC, it regularly communicates its demand situation with the company. Schnake mentioned that the carmaker meets with TSMC every few weeks to stay updated.
Volkswagen also intends to streamline its supply chain by reducing the variety of chips used in its vehicles. This approach will simplify the overall supply process while also making it easier to manage the software integration in the vehicles.
With these measures in place, Volkswagen aims to secure a stable and adequate chip supply for its operations.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Jan Schwartz; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
