[1/2] Volkswagen's factory is seen in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil June 28, 2023. Demand for chips has risen dramatically in the car industry in line with electric vehicle production and the need for increasingly complex software. Volkswagen and Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics (STMPA.PA) announced plans last July to co-develop a new semiconductor, marking VW's first direct relationship with a second- and third-rank semiconductor supplier. Volkswagen has not struck a direct supply relationship with TSMC - the world's biggest contract manufacturer of semiconductors - but meets with them every few weeks to communicate its demand situation, Schnake said. The carmaker also plans to reduce the variety of chips required in its vehicles to simplify the supply chain, which will also help simplify its software offering, Schnake added.

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Persons: Campo, Leonardo Benassatto, chipmakers, Karsten Schnake, Dirk Grosse, Taiwan's TSMC, Schnake, Victoria Waldersee, Jan Schwartz, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, NXP Semiconductors, Infineon Technologies, Renesas Electronics, Volkswagen, Intel, Thomson Locations: Sao Bernardo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Berlin, Germany