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Volkswagen Executive Issues New Chip Warning, Not All Hope Is Lost

European automaker Volkswagen (VW) says through one of its executives that we won’t see any meaningful changes regarding the chip shortage for now. There’s a window of opportunity to go back to normal, but that’s not envisioned for this year or the next one.
VW CFO Arno Antlitz 6 photos
Photo: Volkswagen
Volkswagen CFOVolkswagen CFOVolkswagen CFOCar ParkChip Animation
The semiconductor chip crisis is affecting almost everyone indiscriminately. Only Toyota, Tesla, and other small automakers managed to not get hit hard by this issue. With the huge request for electronics needed for remote work and learning and carmakers not making sure they have enough supply contracted because they expected to keep the factories shut for longer periods, the industry succumbed to a pool of problems.

We’ve seen a lot of statements this year from different auto companies that said they might have a solution or that they’re hoping to have enough chips supplied by their partners. Some managed to get hold of some semiconductors and continued production, but nobody managed to keep everything streamlined for long.

Volkswagen, however, was the only big carmaker that had the same take on the matter since last year. The statements issued by the company directly or through its representatives have always been more or less the same. Now, CFO Arno Antlitz says again that there won’t be any meaningful change regarding the chip supply, as he previously declared in January this year. He expects demand to remain unsatisfied at least until 2024!

But there’s a chance things might start to change from August or September this year for the better. The executive expects some improvements, but he’s looking only at some small steps being made in the right direction. Still, according to Reuters, Antlitz told Boersen-Zeitung that the underlying problem will only be properly resolved in the first half of 2024.

Until then, the undersupply will continue to manifest itself for Volkswagen. The German company is struggling with transitioning to EVs and leaving a Golf-like mark on the entire industry.

Automakers still have problems with making their cars exactly as they want them to be. To keep production going, they select only the most important systems that need to be installed on units on the assembly line, or they tell customers to wait months or even one year to get hold of their new vehicles.
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About the author: Florin Amariei
Florin Amariei profile photo

Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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