Bosch opens a billion-dollar chip factory in Germany

On Monday, the Bosch Group opened a one-billion-euro chip factory in Germany. This is a record investment by a leading supplier of components for the automotive industry, building on the future of electric cars and autonomous vehicles. The plant is located in the semiconductor production center of the Bosch Group near Dresden. It is launched at a time when the supply of chips for car manufacturers is very limited. The new plant will increase Bosch's ability to provide services directly to carmakers and reduce their dependence on other manufacturers, especially overseas. "Each chip we make here in Dresden is one missing chip less. It helps," said board member Harald Kröger. However, the specialist plant will not have a major impact on the global supply crisis, which has forced many car manufacturers to reduce or suspend production. Analysts expect supply problems to continue next year. Bosch received € 200 million in state aid for the construction of the plant under the European Union's investment scheme. It will start producing chips for power tools in July, and the production of car chips will follow from September. Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager were scheduled to attend the virtual opening ceremony. "The state-of-the-art technology in Bosch's new semiconductor plant in Dresden shows the excellent results that can be achieved when industry and government come together," Bosch quoted Vestager as saying. Kröger noted that the Bosch Group had thus supported Brussels' wider strategic pressure to revive the European semiconductor industry. The bloc unveiled its latest plan only recently and aims to double the region's share of chip production to 20 percent by 2030.