Robert Bosch is the latest automotive supplier to try to ramp up its semiconductor business, with ... [+]
The world’s biggest automotive supplier has declared it will turn into the wind of the crippling superconductor supply crisis to ramp up chip production at its German and Malaysian plants.
Confirming it would spend €400 million at its Dresden, Reutlingen and Penang factories, Bosch also insisted it would ramp up production far earlier than planned.
The semiconductor crisis has crippled the world’s automakers, with European car production at its lowest level since the 1990s and UK production culled back to 1982 levels.
Car makers have been forced to juggle their lineups to maintain workforces, profits and CO2 emissions figures, with a flow-on effect keeping new-car prices high and residual values often even higher.
“Demand for chips is continuing to grow at breakneck speed,” Bosch chairman Volkmar Denner said.
“In light of current developments, we're systematically expanding our semiconductor production so we can provide our customers with the best possible support."
The biggest investment will be €150 million at its wafer testing facility in Reutlingen, Germany, which is also slated to take on another 150 workers and a “clean room”.
The Dresden plant will take on higher semiconductor production,
“Our aim is to ramp up production of chips in Dresden earlier than planned and at the same time expand clean-room capacity in Reutlingen," Bosch board member Harald Kroeger said.
"Every additional chip we produce will help in the current situation."
It plans to have an automated semiconductor test centre in Penang, Malaysia, on stream in 2023.
