Auto parts giant Bosch investing US$1.1B to build new German chip plant
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Preparing for self-driving cars and a flood of connected components, the new site will scale-up the firm's semiconductor business and create 700 jobs
The new plant will make 12-inch silicon discs known as wafers, the main building block for semiconductors. PHOTO: Bosch
DRESDEN—The world’s largest auto part supplier, Robert Bosch GmbH, is making a major bet on connected cars.
The German company plans to build a one billion euro (US$1.1 billion) semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden. Bosch said the investment is the largest in its history and is expected to create 700 jobs in the eastern German city.
“Semiconductors are the core components of all electronic systems,” Volkmar Denner, chair of the company’s board, said in a statement.
“With connectivity and automation growing, they are being used in more and more areas of application. By extending our semiconductor manufacturing capacity, we are giving ourselves a sound basis for the future and strengthening our competitiveness.”
The new plant will make 12-inch silicon discs known as wafers for the ballooning number of connected components in vehicles—supporting from air bags sensors to smart suspension systems.
Bosch expects to complete construction on the plant in 2019, though regular manufacturing operations are not scheduled to get underway at the new facility until 2021.
