Photo: Reuters
A complex economy has its foundation in a game of giving and taking between different regions of the world. But if you ask the outgoing CEO of the German tech giants at Bosch, he'll tell you the automotive sector is far too globally connected.
Bosch's soon-to-be-former Supervisory Board Chairman Franz Fehrenbach had some choice words for the reporters from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. They asked for his thoughts on the current state of the European auto sector.
"Yes, we have become too dependent on other regions, and a change, of course, is needed," Fehrenbach states. "However, this is not the fault of politics but is related to cost optimization in the supply chain. The car industry is slowly asking itself how raw material supply will look like, particularly for battery cells."
Based on these words, the soon-to-be ousted German executive is purported to believe the European manufacturing sector has become too reliant on manufacturing in countries like Korea, Japan, and China. German firms have been planning a response based on this assumption. One that promises to build six large EV battery production facilities on German soil sometime in the next nine to ten years.
The Global Automotive Chip Shortage crippled the European sector more so than it did for other regions of the world. After reeling for over a year at the hands of supply chain snafus out of their control, German firms would very much like control back in their hands.
Bosch opened a $1.1 billion state-of-the-art chip production plant in Germany this year. But this factory alone will not solve the issue, nor can one multinational company afford to carry the burden all on their own, at least without significant government intervention. For now, supply chains across the globe remain strained. The companies behind them sit idle, with only the blame game to bide their time with.
"Yes, we have become too dependent on other regions, and a change, of course, is needed," Fehrenbach states. "However, this is not the fault of politics but is related to cost optimization in the supply chain. The car industry is slowly asking itself how raw material supply will look like, particularly for battery cells."
Based on these words, the soon-to-be ousted German executive is purported to believe the European manufacturing sector has become too reliant on manufacturing in countries like Korea, Japan, and China. German firms have been planning a response based on this assumption. One that promises to build six large EV battery production facilities on German soil sometime in the next nine to ten years.
The Global Automotive Chip Shortage crippled the European sector more so than it did for other regions of the world. After reeling for over a year at the hands of supply chain snafus out of their control, German firms would very much like control back in their hands.
Bosch opened a $1.1 billion state-of-the-art chip production plant in Germany this year. But this factory alone will not solve the issue, nor can one multinational company afford to carry the burden all on their own, at least without significant government intervention. For now, supply chains across the globe remain strained. The companies behind them sit idle, with only the blame game to bide their time with.
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