Mr. Hanebeck, you have only just taken over as CEO.

How were the first few months?

What did you change?

Ilka Kopplin

Business correspondent in Munich.

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Stephen Finsterbusch

Editor in Business.

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Times are turbulent, but that's what makes the industry what it is.

I did not pursue the goal of realigning the company.

We already had the right strategy with a focus on decarbonization and digitization.

But we have worked together on a cultural change program called "Spirit" that will lead us to more ambitious goals and quicker decisions.

As a result, we then set ourselves more ambitious corporate goals.

As part of this, you announced that you would build a new plant in Dresden for a record sum of 5 billion euros.

What is the current state of affairs in terms of subsidies?

The new plant in Dresden would be the largest single investment in the history of our company.

In principle, the so-called IPCEI, i.e. Important Project of Common European Interest, and the European Chips Act are open to us as funding options.

Here we are in a discussion with politicians about exactly how this should be structured.

We're getting a lot of positive signals, but I can't give an exact number right now.

Your new plant in Villach only cost a third of what Dresden cost.

You have also announced a plant expansion in Kulim, Malaysia, although Villach is not yet operating at full capacity.

Why do you still want to build so big in Dresden?

In our factories, we mainly produce power semiconductors of various designs.

And here we see a very large and sustained demand.

Decarbonization does not end with renewable energies, it is also about power transmission systems, electric drives in vehicles and much more.

We have a very strong market position in many areas. For example, around every second solar and wind power plant newly installed worldwide contains our power semiconductors.

So I'm not worried about our factories not being utilized to capacity.

There are two main reasons why the project in Dresden would cost more: The clean room in Dresden is about twice as big as in Villach, which is the largest part.

Added to this are inflation and more expensive investments.

Do factories today have to be of this size in order to work economically?

It now makes more sense for us to take a big step.

I also believe that future works will be of this magnitude because it is simply more economical - but that's just a dream of the future, because we would be well positioned for the coming years with a new factory in Dresden.

Nevertheless, if the Chips Act hadn't existed, you wouldn't have spent EUR 5 billion right away.

Of course, funding is a very important aspect.

But economies of scale and existing skills are also an important factor for a possible location decision in Saxony.

But one thing is certain, construction will start in autumn 2023, regardless of whether there will already be a grant decision or not?