Project to build German EV microchip factory put on hold

US firm Wolfspeed and German car parts supplier ZF postpone plans over doubts over viability

A project to build a €3bn factory making microchips for electric vehicles once hailed as part of a “return of the industrial revolution” in Germany has been put on hold, as the crisis in the country’s hi-tech manufacturing industry deepened.

US company Wolfspeed and German car parts supplier ZF have postponed plans to build an EV chip factory, adding to problems caused by a delay to two large-scale factories by US chip giant Intel and potential factory closures being considered by German carmaker Volkswagen.