In the context of the pandemic, there is not much room left on the conveyor for mass-produced and at the same time not very profitable autochip manufacturers, so many automakers began to suffer from their shortage. Based on this experience, the Volkswagen Group has decided to conclude direct chip supply agreements with ten manufacturers in order to avoid bottlenecks in the future.
Image source: Volkswagen
As far as mentioned Reuters, the world’s second-biggest automaker, relies on its automotive suppliers for semiconductor supplies, but since last October Volkswagen has switched to direct contracts with chip designers and manufacturers such as NXP Semiconductors, Infineon Technologies and Renesas Electronics. This was stated by representatives of the automaker, which supplies the company with such components. As they explain, the number of chips delivered to the world market is still not enough for the needs of the automotive industry, so it is necessary to be more active in this matter.
Last July, Volkswagen began collaborating with the Franco-Italian company STMicroelectronics to develop next-generation semiconductor components. The European automaker is thus expanding its partnerships with chip manufacturers beyond the supply chain. The largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan’s TSMC, has yet to sign a direct deal with Volkswagen, but it does meet with automaker officials every few weeks to discuss the supply situation.
Volkswagen officials also said that the automaker intends to reduce the range of semiconductor components used in order to simplify their procurement. At the same time, this optimizes the scope of the software to be maintained and updated.
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