Infineon and SAIC to jointly make power modules

Chinese SAIC and German chipmaker Infineon have formed a joint venture to make power modules for electric cars in China. The JV is to be called SAIC Infineon Automotive Power Modules and will be headquartered in Shanghai.

The partners have received all approvals by the authorities and so SAIC Infineon Automotive Power Modules will start volume production in the second half of 2018 at Infineon’s plant in Wuxi, China. SAIC Motor holds a stake of 51 percent of the JV and Infineon 49 percent.

Jochen Hanebeck, member of the Management Board of Infineon responsible for operations said that the “joint venture will make us faster to serve the electric vehicle customers in China.” He added that they plan “to generate even more business with products tailored to the needs of the Chinese electric vehicle industry.”

For the start, they will focus on frame-based HybridPACK modules for the Chinese market. These were first introduced by Infineon in 2006 and are widely used in plug-in hybrid and full electric vehicles worldwide.

Meanwhile, Infineon has agreed on a long-term supply strategy with Cree for the provision of silicon carbide (SiC) wafers. Infineon aims to broaden its offering of SiC products to address markets such as photovoltaic inverters and e-mobility.

reuters.com (SAIC), eenewseurope.com (Cree)