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Wolfsburg (dpa) - Not only missing electronic chips, but also scarce battery cells slow down the production of the hybrid models of the new Golf 8, according to the VW works council. “In Germany, 60 percent of all Golf orders are for hybrids, in Europe 40 percent », Said group works council chief Bernd Osterloh of the« Braunschweiger Zeitung »(Saturday).
Hybrid cars have both a combustion engine and an electric drive.
The problem: "We don't have enough battery cells to process all orders quickly," he said.
Even if electronic control chips were available, not all cars could be built.
Because of the semiconductor bottleneck alone, VW has had to cut back work in Wolfsburg, Emden and other plants in recent weeks.
The car manufacturer has announced that it intends to open up new supply channels and secure them by contract.
Apparently the top of the group had misjudged the demand, said the head of the works council.
The profitability of the core brand VW could be better had it not been for start-up problems with the Golf 8 and the all-electric ID3 and ID4 models.
Recalls for installing software updates and the missing parts for the Golf caused further costs and reduced profits.
"That must not be ignored when the profitability of the VW brand is discussed and criticized again," said Osterloh of the newspaper.
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The semiconductor shortage has recently hit numerous car manufacturers and suppliers.
With the producers of IT components, the demand from the automotive industry had increased for years, but then collapsed in the Corona crisis.
The chip manufacturers quickly found new customers, for example in entertainment electronics.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210220-99-521981 / 2