Missing semiconductors
VW plant in Wolfsburg threatens weakest production since 1958
Due to the lack of semiconductors, VW could produce fewer cars than it has for decades (symbol photo)
© Matthias Rietschel / Picture Alliance
The lack of chips is causing massive problems for VW. Thousands of employees are still on short-time work, and car sales plummeted. The VW plant is now threatened with the weakest production since 1958.
Car production at VW’s main plant in Wolfsburg is anything but good. After the three quarters in 2021, the German carmaker counts only 300,000 cars produced. As the weekly newspaper “Zeit” reported in its print edition of October 21, the Wolfsburg-based company could now even record its weakest production in 63 years.
“It would have to be a miracle if we were to reach the previous year’s level by the end of the year,” an insider told the newspaper. Volkswagen itself is only cautious about this. It is clear, however, that the missing semiconductors set production back considerably. It has “led to a high number of non-produced vehicles,” it says. There are clearer words from works council chairman Daniela Cavallo. She criticizes Group boss Herbert Diess: “We cannot yet see a plan from the company’s management as to how this crisis can be managed.”
The car manufacturer first learned of the delivery bottleneck in autumn 2020. VW then set up a task force, but production is now heading for a historically bad year. In addition, tens of thousands of employees are still on short-time work. Last year, for the first time in more than 60 years, fewer than half a million cars rolled off the production line in Wolfsburg.
VW continues to expect a delivery bottleneck
The lack of semiconductors is a problem for manufacturers around the world. The manufacturers’ association Acea announced last week that car registrations in the EU have recently continued to fall sharply. Compared to the same month last year, sales fell by 23.1 percent to 718,595 vehicles. This is the lowest value since 1995. The reason for this is the extreme shortage of chips.
Volkswagen, however, expects the bottleneck to continue in the coming year. The Wolfsburg-based company therefore wants to take part in the chip development and cover part of the demand itself.
Source: time, Acea