The plant in Zwijndrecht, which closed due to tightened environmental regulations, accounts for 80% of global total semiconductor coolant output

The carmaker's chief financial officer, Arno Antlitz, said bottlenecks would be likely to begin to ease towards the end of this year

US fabrication of the chips would require not only tremendous up-front costs, but possibly a steady stream of government assistance in perpetuity

Automobile dealer group FADA said passenger vehicle retail sales last month fell 10.91% to 244,639 units from 274,605 units in December 2020