Volkswagen expects chips shortage to ease in third quarter

Volkswagen expects a shortage in chip supply to ease in the third quarter but sees the bottlenecks to continue in the long-term, a board member informed Handelsblatt newspaper.

“Currently we have reached the lowest point. We are facing the toughest six weeks,” said Murat Aksel, the Board Member for Procurement of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars.

He said he expects a ten percent of shortage in chips over the long-term as building up production capacities takes up to two years.

The automaker will prepare for the bottlenecks by increasing its chips storage and is currently categorizing the supply risk of its all models parts.

The chip shortage, which has hit automakers worldwide, emerges from a confluence of factors as automakers, which closed plants for two months during the coronavirus pandemic last year, rival against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies. A factory fire suffered by Japanese chipmaker Renesas this year is also cited as a reason behind the chip shortage.