German car concern Volkswagen has been unable to build 100,000 vehicles due to the ongoing chip shortage that has hit the global auto sector this year, CEO Herbert Diess said, adding that Volkswagen will not be able to fully self-sufficiency in chips in 2021.
Diess, speaking at an annual press conference, said the automaker will secure future chip shipments through direct agreements with semiconductor suppliers, which represent a partial implementation of the strategic changes outlined earlier this year.
The head of Volkswagen also said that the company plans to more than double the supply of electric vehicles in 2021 - to 1 million units. In his opinion, this can help in reducing costs, since production of electric cars is much cheaper than with internal combustion engines.
In addition, the improvement in the financial profile is expected to be achieved by reducing fixed costs by 2 billion euros (5%) by 2023 compared to 2020, as well as reducing material costs by 7% over the same period.
To better deal with staff costs, Volkswagen on Sunday offered early or partial retirement for older employees, which sources say could cut up to 5,000 jobs in factories in Germany employing just over 100,000 people.
In total, Volkswagen plants worldwide employ about 670,000 employees.
