FRANKFURT, (Reuters) – Europe’s automotive industry has grown too dependent on Asia and other areas for vital components like semiconductors and batteries. This was the opinion of Bosch’s former chairman.

The two main components of the new age of autonomous and electric vehicles are automotive chips and battery cells. This has forced European carmakers into relying on Asian suppliers, as the local industry is slow to develop capacity.

Franz Fehrenbach (Bosch’s Chairman of Supervisory Board), said that the company has become too dependent upon other regions and that a shift of course was necessary. He resigned at the close of the year.

He stated that this was not due to politics and is related cost optimization in supply chains. “The auto industry is gradually asking themselves how the supply of raw materials will change, especially for battery cells.”

German companies have made plans to regain control. Volkswagen (DE) is one of them. It plans to construct six battery factories in Europe with European partners by 2030.

The global shortage in automotive chips led to the European Union launching subsidy programs to encourage chipmakers to Europe.

Bosch, world’s leading automotive supplier opened this year a chip plant in Germany for 1 billion Euro ($1.1Billion). It is its largest-ever investment as Bosch aims at equipping new electric and self driving cars.

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