Volkswagen expects the chip crisis to continue in 2023, and considered that the supply chain turmoil it has suffered in the past two years has become the “new normal,” and according to the head of Volkswagen’s purchasing department, Murat Axel, during an interview with Automobilwoche, the geopolitical concerns accompanying countries Ranked as major chip makers has created new and difficult problems, but automakers must adapt to this new situation.
“With the new geopolitical issues, things will become more complex and challenging,” Axel said. “Investments for new capacity are on the right track, but it is expected that there will be a structural deficit in chips even and during 2023.” Axel himself had indicated last February that the chip crisis could be resolved by the end of this year, but he retracted his view after the continuation of global crises, and has already begun to try to find alternative solutions to compensate Volkswagen for reducing vehicle production.
Volkswagen was forced to reduce production at its main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, in early 2022, as well as introduce an early warning system to detect a shortage of supplies, which helped it identify 150 technical alternatives to electronic chips, according to a report from Fortune. In addition, Volkswagen is moving to reduce its reliance on semiconductors from South Korean manufacturers, as its software division recently entered into an agreement with European semiconductor supplier STMicroelectronics and Taiwan’s TSMC to create a more stable supply of chips.