VW reaches direct supply deals with chipmakers to avoid shortage

The automaker began striking direct deals with chipmakers last October to ensure its supply was secure, according to Karsten Schnake, Skoda's head of procurement who also also in charge of VW Group's COMPASS (Cross Operational Management Parts & Supply Security) taskforce for component supply. Today, a Skoda Enyaq has around 90 control units with some 8,000 electronic components," VW said in a news release. Today, the auto industry is in 5th place among the major buyers with a global procurement volume for semiconductors of around $47 billion, VW added. VW and Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics announced plans last July to co-develop a new semiconductor, marking VW's first direct relationship with a second- and third-rank semiconductor supplier. VW has not struck a direct supply relationship with TSMC, the world's biggest contract manufacturer of semiconductors, but meets with them every few weeks to communicate its demand situation, Schnake said.