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In recent years, the problem of core shortage has affected the global market, and many car companies have taken ways to reduce or stop production to deal with the crisis because of the shortage of chips. A few days ago, a suspected Audi notice to franchisees was exposed, which read: "due to the global epidemic, Audi's remote control key chip capacity is insufficient. From July 5, 2021, the following domestic Audi models are delivered with only a remote control key and a mechanical key tooth, and the affected vehicles can be identified by the new equipment number" SOP ". After the production capacity is restored, FAW-Volkswagen Audi sales Division will promptly issue the action notice of the remote control key, and the dealer will deliver the second remote control key for the user. if you have any questions, please contact the marketing room of domestic car products. As can be seen from the picture, the models affected by the lack of chips are Audi A4L, Audi Q5L, Audi Q5L Sportback, Audi A6L, Audi A6LPHEV, Audi CKD e-tron.

As early as December last year, Volkswagen was exposed that it had adjusted the market size in some areas because of a "lack of core", and then a number of overseas car companies were exposed to the same situation one after another. According to the CCTV financial channel, there is a shortage of international semiconductor chips, Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota and other car companies have to take production cuts and other ways to deal with the crisis. In December 2020, Volkswagen Group said that due to chip shortages, its plants in Europe, North America and China were expected to cut production by 100000 vehicles in the first quarter of this year. Honda announced on January 7 that it would cut production by 4000 vehicles in January due to a shortage of semiconductor chips in vehicle control systems. Toyota announced on January 8 that it would reduce production of its Tantu pickup truck at its Texas assembly plant by about 40%. On January 11, Ford announced that its manufacturing plant in Louisville, Kentucky would stop production for a week due to a shortage of chips and related parts, Ford Richter and Lincoln adventurers suspended production, and the plant would temporarily lay off about 3900 people; in addition, Nissan, FCA, Audi, BMW, Daimler and other car companies were also affected by the chip shortage.

According to media reports, SAIC said that SAIC-Volkswagen's production capacity was affected by a shortage of chips in the first quarter of this year, and some models were halted periodically. In order to ensure the stable development of the market, SAIC-Volkswagen will optimize its production schedule according to market demand and give priority to the production capacity of products with high demand. The relevant media verified the head of SAIC-Volkswagen on the news and confirmed that the outage of chips has become a global industry problem, which has had a certain impact on global automakers. In the first quarter of this year, SAIC-Volkswagen's production capacity was affected by the shortage of chips, and some models were halted periodically. At this stage, we will optimize production scheduling according to market demand and give priority to ensuring the production capacity of products with large market demand.

In fact, there were rumors at the end of last year that Volkswagen would stop production due to the impact of the chip. Affected by the supply of chips and other parts, the production lines of some models of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen, two joint ventures of Volkswagen, have been suspended. Volkswagen later said that the impact of the suspension of production due to chips was small, but in 2021, Stephan Wollenstein, China CEO of Volkswagen Group, said that the company lost tens of thousands of vehicles in China in December as global chip supply shortages affected its production. Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Dis said at the 2021 press conference on March 16 that the company had lost production of 100000 vehicles in the first two months of this year as a result of global chip shortages and cold weather in the United States, a gap that cannot be made up this year.

According to the FIFA data, FAW-Volkswagen sold 2.1103 million vehicles in 2020, of which the Audi brand sold 726300 vehicles, with a total annual sales volume of 411.4 billion yuan. FAW-Volkswagen originally planned to produce about 610000 cars in the second quarter of this year, but due to a shortage of chips, it is expected to produce only 400000 vehicles in the second quarter, a 30 per cent reduction, according to an earlier report by China Finance and Economics. China Finance and Economics quoted FAW-Volkswagen insiders as saying, "according to the information given by the German headquarters CKD department and suppliers, major MQB models in April and May are facing suspension of production, including Volkswagen and Audi brands." The internal strategy is to give priority to Audi, not affected by chip resources to maximize the production of models, to make up for production losses. "

With regard to the chip supply shortage, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said: based on the current situation in the industry, the chip supply shortage is expected to last until January next year.

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