Bosch said in a statement that in order to cope with the persistent global chip shortage, Bosch will invest another 250 million euros ($282.5 million) to expand the chip production facility at the (Reutlingen) plant in Roytringen, Germany, with the new production facility scheduled to be put into use in 2025, according to foreign media reports.
"We are systematically expanding semiconductor capacity at the Royt Lingen plant," said Stefan Hartung, chairman of Bosch's board. "this investment will not only enhance our competitiveness, but also benefit our customers and help overcome the semiconductor supply chain crisis."
The Bosch Royt Ringen plant currently employs approximately 8000 people, working in the semiconductor and electronic control unit R & D and production, administration and eBike systems departments. The further expansion of the Royt Lingen plant will mainly meet the growing demand for MEMS and silicon carbide power semiconductors in the automotive and consumer industries.
In October, Bosch announced that it would invest more than 400m this year in chip production facilities in Roytringen in Germany and (Dresden) in Dresden, as well as in a chip test facility in Penang, Malaysia, of which 50 million euros will be spent on the Royt Lingen plant, with most of the money going to expand the Dresden plant.
The Bosch Dresden plant, with a total investment of about 1 billion euros, will officially start production of 300mm wafers in June. Bosch Malaysia's Penang Chip Test Center, which initially covers an area of about 150000 square feet, will be built in phases and will begin testing chips and sensors in 2023.
"Bosch is already a leading automotive chipmaker," said Markus Heyn, a board member and chairman of the mobile travel solutions business unit. "We intend to consolidate our position in automotive chips."
To achieve this goal, Bosch began producing silicon carbide chips in December last year. Silicon carbide chips are destined to play an increasingly important role in the field of electric vehicles, and Bosch is currently the only auto parts supplier in the world that makes silicon carbide semiconductors.
Bosch ranks first on the list of the top 100 auto parts suppliers of European Automotive News (Automotive News Europe) in 2021, with global auto parts sales of US $46.51 billion in 2020.
