The European Union is considering building its own microchip factory, reports from Bloomberg. The European car industry, among others, must thus become less dependent on America and Asia when it comes to the production of computer chips, which are currently in a global shortage. However, this plan does not seem possible in the short term.
The worldwide shortage of computer chips affects almost all car manufacturers. Audi CEO Markus Duesmann even went so far as to label it a European problem, because Europe is too dependent on companies that produce elsewhere, such as the Taiwanese TSMC and Samsung. The European Union therefore wants to work on the local production of computer chips and build its own factory, where it is considering collaborating with the aforementioned chip manufacturers. In this way, Europe must become less sensitive to the shortages that currently hinder the automotive industry in production. The plan is also supported by the European countries: according to Reuters they already pledge a total of € 50 billion to contribute to the above goal.
However, according to people close to the project, it is all still not very concrete: for example, no time frame has been mapped out and it is also not known where a new factory may be built. Moreover, the ambition of the EU does not seem possible in the short term. Peter Wennink, the CEO of chip machine factory ASML, said earlier during the presentation of the financial figures of the company that it will take years before the production lines are of the same level as those of the renowned chip companies. According to him, the plan is therefore more a matter of years, not months.