Bosch is sounding the alarm about the dispute between the Netherlands and China over the Dutch chipmaker Nexperia—as the global auto parts supplier prepares to furlough staff at one of its plants.
The details: Bosch said that if the trade stand-off between the Netherlands and China isn’t settled soon, the company will have to cut worker hours at its Salzgitter plant to start mitigating the fallout from the Nexperia dispute, reports Reuters.
The Salzgitter plant is a lead manufacturing facility for motor control units for combustion and EVs.
The plant employs roughly 1,400 people and is closely tied to Volkswagen as a joint venture for battery cell production.
What they’re saying: "We are currently doing everything we can to serve our customers and avoid or minimize production restrictions," a Bosch spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "We have not yet made any adjustments to working hours at our German locations, but are preparing to do so, particularly in Salzgitter.”
Why it matters: Bosch’s warning highlights the escalating risk of broader production disruptions across the global auto industry if the Nexperia dispute continues—impacting everything from powertrain systems to EV components.
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Between the lines: German car companies are already bracing for the impact of the chip shortage, with some automotive suppliers already facing “severe difficulties” and others (like Bosch) moving to furlough workers.
Volkswagen said it has secured production in Germany for this week across its core VW brand and subsidiary Porsche, but officials cannot rule out short-term impacts to production.
BMW and Mercedes are warning that their supplier networks could soon feel the effects of the chip shortage.
Switching suppliers could help avoid some production stoppages, with Infineon, NXP, and Texas Instruments named as possible alternatives, but that’s a time-consuming process, industry insiders told Reuters.
Bottom line: Bosch’s warning underscores how quickly the Nexperia dispute is rippling through the global automotive supply chain—threatening to disrupt vehicle manufacturing, strain inventory pipelines, and tighten parts availability for dealers and repair networks across major markets.
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