PARIS — Volkswagen Group and chipmaker STMicroelectronics will develop a new semiconductor amid a global chip crunch that has put strains on the car industry’s supply chain.
VW’s software unit, Cariad, and STMicro are set to co-design the new chip, which will be part of the Stellar microcontroller family of semiconductors, the companies said in a statement.
Both companies are “moving to agree” that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will manufacture it, the statement said.
“With the planned direct cooperation with ST and TSMC, we are actively shaping our entire semiconductor supply chain,” Murat Aksel, VW’s procurement head, said in the statement. “We are ensuring the production of the exact chips we need for our cars and securing the supply of critical microchips for years to come.”
The agreement is the second chip-focused partnership for VW’s electrification push. Cariad said in May it had signed a deal with Qualcomm to assist with automated driving applications.
VW’s Cariad unit, set up in 2020 to pool previous software efforts, has struggled with several setbacks as it aims to create a unified software platform for the production launch of VW brand’s Trinity project in 2026.
The division has so far released a toolkit for VW’s ID series of electric cars, the first model of which debuted with missing features.
Development of a premium software architecture for the Audi and Porsche brands has been plagued by infighting, delaying models including a battery-powered version of Porsche’s Macan compact SUV.
Bloomberg contributed to this report