Europe’s auto sector much too reliant on other locations, states Bosch chairman

A employee at the Volkswagen assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 27, 2020. Swen Pfoertner/Pool by using REUTERS

FRANKFURT, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Europe’s automotive sector has develop into too reliant on Asia and other regions for vital components this kind of as semiconductors and battery cells, Bosch’s (ROBG.UL) outgoing chairman instructed a German newspaper.

Automotive Chips and battery cells have turn into the two most important factors in the age of electric and autonomous motor vehicles, forcing European carmakers to depend on Asian suppliers as nearby market has been slow to construct capability close by.

“Certainly, we have become way too dependent on other locations, and a transform of training course is desired,” Bosch’s Supervisory Board Chairman Franz Fehrenbach, who steps down at the finish of the 12 months, advised Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“Having said that, this is not the fault of politics, but is associated to price optimisation in the supply chain,” he stated. “The auto business is slowly inquiring by itself how raw material offer will search like, notably for battery cells.”

German companies have outlined programs to claw back command, including Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) which designs to make six massive battery mobile factories with companions in Europe by 2030.

A international lack of automotive chips has highlighted the trouble, creating the European Union to start subsidy programmes to entice chipmakers to the continent.

Bosch, the world’s premier automotive provider, opened a 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) chip plant in Germany this yr, its biggest-at any time investment, as it stakes a assert to equipping the most current electric powered and self-driving vehicles. read much more

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Reporting by Christoph Steitz Editing by Edmund Blair

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