Elon Musk calls Renesas and Bosch’s chip supply ‘problematic’

Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk griped that two of the world’s biggest auto-chip suppliers are inhibiting the electric-car maker’s production.

“We are operating under extreme supply chain limitations regarding certain ‘standard’ automotive chips," Tesla’s chief executive officer wrote in a tweet Thursday, responding to a tweet from Ark Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood. “Most problematic by far are Renesas & Bosch."

Musk isn’t the first in the auto industry to point fingers at Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp. and Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH for holding up vehicle output. Ford Motor Co. called out the fire at a Renesas factory north of Tokyo as a major risk to its production schedules earlier this year. Volkswagen AG held talks with major suppliers including Bosch about possibly claiming damages related to the semiconductor shortage, a spokesperson told Reuters in January.

Renesas said in early June that its chip plant in Naka would resume full production by mid-month. Representatives for the company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bosch, which opened a 1 billion-euro ($1.2 billion) factory near the city of Dresden in June, can’t escape the general shortage of semiconductor components caused by various factors, spokesperson Annett Fischer said.

“In this tense situation, we are doing everything in our power to support our customers and are working flat out to keep up deliveries as much as possible," Fischer wrote in an email. “Together with our customers and our suppliers, we have been working in task forces around the clock for weeks."

Musk was responding to a tweet from Ark Investment’s Wood, who was parsing Tesla’s significant drop in local deliveries of China-built vehicles in July. Wood, a long-time Tesla bull, wrote that China would like “local champions" to dominate EV sales in the country, but is pleased Tesla is exporting to Europe.

“Tesla makes cars for export in first half of quarter & for local market in second half," Musk replied.

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