MICROCHIP SHORTAGE

The automaker's factories in the German cities of Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm are cutting back on production of models including the Q2, A3, A4 and A5.

After a couple of weeks that saw production cuts totaling fewer than 10,000 vehicles each, North American factories lost 84,000 vehicles last week because of the ongoing worldwide shortage of microchips.

Chip producers were only able to meet about 20 percent of automotive orders in July and despite some improvement in August, more than half of the demand still couldn’t be satisfied.

The automaker didn’t say when one of the two remaining shifts will be slashed, but it did blame the ongoing semiconductor shortage and COVID-19 pandemic for the change.