Because of a lack of computer chips, many car manufacturers have to cut back on their production.
The dispute between Volkswagen and the chip suppliers seems to be escalating.
The Volkswagen Group has been struggling with severe sales losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020.
In addition, an acute shortage of chips on the automotive market is a burden on the production of many manufacturers.
Now a solid dispute threatens between Volkswagen and its suppliers.
Wolfsburg - 2020 was not an easy year for Volkswagen.
The measures against the Corona * pandemic had an immediate effect on the automobile manufacturer's sales.
The new year doesn't seem to bring any luck to the industry either.
Because of a lack of computer chips, many automobile manufacturers have to cut back on their production.
The situation is particularly worsening between Volkswagen and the suppliers.
VW: Dispute between group and supplier
After the slump in sales last spring, production is now stalling due to a lack of electronic components.
Some car manufacturers even had to send their employees on short-time work.
Volkswagen accuses the chip supplier of not having believed the group's forecasts about a recovery in demand for cars.
A purchasing manager from VW said that he found it “incomprehensible” that an important supplier had only reported a shortage in semiconductors to its customer in November.
“If a supplier does not believe our figures and consults a forecasting institute that - for whatever reason - assesses the situation differently than our experts and therefore orders less in its primary material chain, that could be an explanation for the current situation . "
Shortly before Christmas, the bottleneck in China became known.
Almost all major car manufacturers are now affected by delivery problems.
The situation is also deteriorating at BMW.
The situation should painfully remind Volkswagen and many other carmakers of the previous year.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many automobile manufacturers had to stop their production.
Experts believe that many companies have focused too much on cost efficiency instead of relying on multiple suppliers.
VW: Supplier Continental rejects allegations
The Wolfsburg-based company is already drawing the first conclusions from the current crisis and wants to secure its supply in the future through direct agreements with the manufacturers.
In addition, Volkswagen is examining the possibility of asserting claims for damages against its main suppliers Bosch and Continental.
From Continental said: "We communicated openly and transparently to our customers at all times."
Some market research institutes may have been wrong with their forecast.
In the spring of 2020 it still looked as if the demand would not recover too quickly.
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