Volkswagen looks to claim damages from suppliers over chip shortages: magazine

BERLIN: German car manufacturer Volkswagen is looking into possible claims for damages against its suppliers Bosch and Continental due to a lack of semiconductors, Automobilwoche magazine reported on Sunday.

Automakers around the world are shutting assembly lines due to problems in the delivery of semiconductors, which in some cases have been exacerbated by the former Trump administration's actions against key Chinese chip factories.

The shortage has affected Volkswagen, Ford Motor Co, Subaru Corp, Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co Ltd, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and other car makers.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Automobilwoche reported that Volkswagen was in talks with alternative suppliers of semiconductors but there were concerns this could lead to higher prices.

Volkswagen wants to make sure that both Bosch and Continental share the burden and partly compensate the company for the resulting additional costs, the magazine reported.

Contacted by Reuters, a Volkswagen spokesman declined to comment, and Bosch and Continental did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The magazine cited Bosch company sources which said the car supplier was ready to discuss the matter directly with its customers and suppliers in due course.

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has asked his Taiwanese counterpart Wang Mei-hua to persuade Taiwanese manufacturers to help ease the shortage of semiconductor chips which is hampering its fledgling economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Altmaier asked Wang to address the issue in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker and one of Germany's main suppliers.