Audi idles 10,000 staff on chip shortage

A global semiconductor shortage is forcing Audi to put more than 10,000 workers on furlough and delay the production of some cars, CEO Markus Duesmann told the Financial Times.

Overall output for 2021 shouldn’t be affected because the company expects to make up for lost time in the second half, Duesmann said in the interview published Sunday.

Duesmann said Audi will "do everything we can to keep it below 10,000 [fewer models produced] for the first quarter."

The supply challenge came as Audi saw unexpected rise in demand for cars, largely due to a rebound in China, he said.

Audi, Volkswagen, Ford and Daimler are all reducing production at factories in Germany because of a shortage of microchips.

VW had said last month that it is bracing for a major production disruption in first-quarter manufacturing around the globe because of the bottleneck. VW brand is reducing production at its Wolfsburg and Emden plants.

Ford will idle its plant in Saarlouis for a month because of semiconductor shortages. The factory builds the Ford Focus compact car.

Ford is suspending production of the Focus compact car in Saarlouis from Jan. 18 to Feb. 19.

Audi is placing workers at its factories in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm on short-time working until Jan. 29. Production of the A4 and A5 models will be affected.

Daimler is cutting production of Mercedes compact cars at plants in Rastatt and Bremen, Germany, and in Kecskemet, Hungary.

Bloomberg contributed to this report