Volkswagen is ok on chip supply for now, CEO tells Bild am Sonntag

FRANKFURT, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Volkswagen Group , which owns Audi and Porsche, has secured a sufficient supply of chips for now, its CEO told a German weekly, as a Chinese export ban on finished products by semiconductor maker Nexperia has European carmakers scrambling for supplies. "The current chip crisis shows how fragile our world is. Unlike the last semiconductor crisis, this one involves very simple chips that are used across industries and especially in cars," Oliver Blume told Bild am Sonntag. "In the short-term, we are provided for in the Volkswagen Group. We need a swift political solution." China has banned exports of Nexperia's finished products in response to the Netherlands seizing control of the company, whose Chinese owner Wingtech has been flagged by the U.S. as a possible national security risk. The stand-off risks adding to woes for Europe's auto sector on top of U.S. tariffs and Chinese export curbs on rare earths. Blume currently also serves as CEO of Porsche, which has been thrown into what he called a "massive crisis" due to plunging sales in China and U.S. import tariffs. As a result, Porsche on Friday disclosed a third-quarter operating loss of nearly 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) and Blume said that there would be "a clear positive trend" for the luxury sportscar maker from 2026. Porsche earlier this month said that Blume would pass on the CEO job to former McLaren Automotive CEO Michael Leiters at the start of 2026, following long-standing investor criticism that running two carmarkers was too much for one individual. "Leiters was a candidate on my list of successors," Blume said, adding he is a "sports car professional" and that he would be a "good Porsche boss". ($1 = 0.8575 euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

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