August 1, 2023 /SemiMedia/ -- According to reports, Oliver Seiler, a semiconductor expert at the German Federal Trade and Invest Agency, said that Germany is the world's largest automotive electronics market. In addition to smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence, the automotive industry will drive demand for chips in Europe.

Seiler pointed out that in order to avoid falling into the dilemma of chip shortage again, even the automobile industry is now investing in its own production capacity, especially the traditional automobile manufacturers want to get a share. For example, Bosch set up a fab in Dresden, which was officially opened in July 2021; ZF and Wolfspeed announced in February this year that they would build a fab in Saarbon, western Germany; Infineon has significantly expanded its production capacity, and a new plant with an investment of 5 billion euros has started construction in Dresden in May this year.

In addition to auto parts and chip manufacturers, wafer foundries are also deployed in Germany. TSMC may decide to build a factory in Dresden within a few weeks.

The German Economy Ministry said on July 25 that the government is preparing subsidies worth around 20 billion euros ($22 billion) to support the development of local semiconductor production in the coming years.