Daimler to cut production due to chip shortage

Daimler will reduce production and working hours at a second factory, as the automaker is having a hard time due to a global shortage of semiconductors, the Handelsblatt daily reported on Thursday, citing unnamed company sources.

Automakers and electronics makers are dealing with a shortage of chips as consumer demand recovers back from a downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic that led to manufacturing delays.

The Mercedes maker will reduce production in Bremen, the newspaper reported, with the plant possibly even being closed at the beginning of February for some days.

Earlier, the company said it was cutting hours at its compact car plant in Rastatt.

Rival Volkswagen said on Wednesday it would further reduce car production at its main plant in northern Germany because of the shortage of semiconductors that has hit the industry globally.

On Thursday, Volkswagen’s brand Audi also declared that it would cut hours for about 10,000 employees at its Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt plants. Production will be partially stopped from this week until the end of January.