Volkswagen expects chip supply to remain tight in coming months

The head of Volkswagen said that they expect semiconductor supplies to the car sector to remain tight in coming months. In a German news agency report Ralf Brandstaetter, CEO of the Volkswagen brand and member of the carmaker’s management board said that he thinks the situation will remain tense.

Fire at a factory operated by automotive chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp, as well as snowstorms in Texas were considered to be the major factors that have hurt factory production and effectively idled output.

Brandstaetter also stated that the impact an be seen in the upcoming months. Volkswagen’s procurement task force was busy around the clock dealing with the issue which remained at the top of the agenda of Volkswagen’s management board.

CEO Herbert Diess said that Volkswagen AG has been unable to build 100,000 cars due to the shortage. He also said that the group would not be able to make up for the shortfall in 2021. According to Brandstaetter, in the second half of the year the situation was expected to ease somewhat.

On the other hand, the challenges caused by the shortage were likely to intensify in the second quarter said Wayne Griffiths, president of Volkswagen’s Spanish brand SEAT.