Automotive and business brief

Snapshot

• IG Metall warning strikes are under way: first stoppages at midnight on Sunday, including auto supplier KSM Castings, and the union plans actions at more than 2,000 plants this week
• Lear Q3: E-Systems sales of $1.45bn (+1%) with adjusted margin up to 4.8%; Europe and Africa E-Systems sales rise 10% while North America falls 12%, and Lear wins a van conquest award in Europe
• Sumitomo Electric H1: automotive sales up 17% but automotive profit down ¥11.6bn on copper, Middle East costs and overseas launches; it cuts its full-year automotive profit forecast even as group guidance rises

Top Developments

1. IG Metall warning strikes are under way: first stoppages at midnight on Sunday, including auto supplier KSM Castings, and the union plans actions at more than 2,000 plants this week

   The peace obligation in the German metal and electrical industry ended at midnight on 31 October, and night shifts walked out straight away, among them about 300 workers at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein in Andernach, the RF360 plant in Munich and the casting supplier KSM Castings in Hildesheim. IG Metall says the wave picks up properly in the night to Monday and that warning strikes are planned in more than 2,000 plants by the end of the week.…

   AI-generated summary · not individually reviewed · check the linked sources

   Sources: tagesschau (1 Nov, DE) · IG Metall (1 Nov, DE) · DER SPIEGEL (1 Nov, DE)

2. Lear Q3: E-Systems sales of $1.45bn (+1%) with adjusted margin up to 4.8%; Europe and Africa E-Systems sales rise 10% while North America falls 12%, and Lear wins a van conquest award in Europe

   Lear reported on 30 Oct group sales of $5.77bn (+2%) and core operating earnings of $256m (4.4% margin); adjusted EPS was $3.71. E-Systems revenue was $1,446.9m against $1,430.2m, with adjusted segment earnings of $69.1m (4.8% of sales, from 4.2%) and about 120bp of operating performance. By region, E-Systems sales in Europe and Africa rose to $586.6m from $532.4m (helped by JLR programmes), North America fell to $480.6m from $548.6m (Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair run-out), and Asia was $270.6m.…

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   Sources: Lear press release (30 Oct) · Lear 10-Q, SEC (segment by region) · Q3 call transcript, Motley Fool (30 Oct)

3. Sumitomo Electric H1: automotive sales up 17% but automotive profit down ¥11.6bn on copper, Middle East costs and overseas launches; it cuts its full-year automotive profit forecast even as group guidance rises

   Sumitomo Electric reported on 30 Oct first-half group sales of ¥2.76tn (+16.5%) and operating profit of ¥219.6bn (+43.5%), driven by data-centre optical and power-cable demand, and raised full-year guidance to ¥5.75tn sales and ¥500bn operating profit. The automotive segment, mostly wiring harnesses, grew sales to ¥1,616.6bn from ¥1,378.2bn, but operating profit fell to ¥53.8bn from ¥65.4bn, a margin of about 3.3% against 4.7%.…

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   Sources: Sumitomo Electric H1 supplementary sheet (30 Oct, PDF) · RTTNews (30 Oct) · Sumitomo Electric IR library

4. Motherson Sumi Wiring India Q2: revenue up 47% on new EV and ICE launches, but EBITDA margin slips to 9.2% from 10.1%

   Motherson Sumi Wiring India (the Motherson–Sumitomo harness joint venture) reported on 30 Oct quarterly revenue of ₹4,054 crore (+46.8%) and net profit of ₹223 crore (+35.1%). EBITDA rose 33.6% to ₹374 crore, but the margin narrowed to 9.22% from 10.13%. The company credits higher customer volumes, more content per vehicle and new model launches on both EV and combustion platforms.

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   Sources: CNBC TV18 (30 Oct) · Kalkine India (filing summary)

5. VW pauses development of the electric ID. Golf in Wolfsburg to save money; the plant is €300m behind its cost target

   In a memo seen by Reuters on 30 Oct, VW brand chief Thomas Schäfer said the group is suspending preliminary development work on the ID. Wolfsburg is about €300m behind this year’s cost-cutting target, while Emden and Zwickau are on track. The ID. Golf is one of the first models planned on the SSP platform and was already pushed from 2028 to around 2030; the works council says the launch will not slip, and combustion Golf production moves to Mexico in 2027.

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   Sources: Reuters via Euronext (30 Oct) · electrive (30 Oct) · Electrek (30 Oct)

6. Hungary’s new government tightens enforcement on battery plants: Semcorp’s Debrecen separator plant enters its fifth month of shutdown, SK On is fined and EcoPro partly suspended

   Bloomberg (via The Japan Times, 29 Oct) reports that production has been halted at several Asian battery-supply plants under Prime Minister Péter Magyar. Semcorp’s Debrecen separator plant, from a company that makes about 40% of the world’s battery separators, has been shut for five months after tests showed toxins in nearby soil; Semcorp says the original lab result was wrong and is challenging the decision in court.…

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   Sources: The Japan Times / Bloomberg (29 Oct) · Világgazdaság (30 Oct, HU) · Semcorp statement

7. China October sales: BYD exports 170,000 cars (+103%) and Chery 200,600 while home sales keep falling; Leapmotor hits a record 106,000 and Xpeng passes 50,000

   Figures released on 1 Nov show BYD sold 490,168 vehicles (+11%), its highest this year, with battery-electric cars above 300,000 for the first time; exports were 170,194 (+102.8% but down 5.8% on September) while China sales fell 10.6%. Chery Group exported 200,618 cars (+58.7%), about 68% of its total. Geely sold 310,183, with exports up 158% to 107,153 and China sales down 23.6%. GWM’s domestic sales fell 33% while overseas sales hit a record 62,862.…

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   Sources: CnEVPost roundup (1 Nov) · BYD filing, HKEX (1 Nov, PDF) · Reuters via Investing.com (1 Nov)

8. Japanese output keeps falling abroad: Honda’s September production down 12% (China −66%, Asia −44%) while Toyota’s overseas output falls 7.6%

   Honda produced 273,189 vehicles worldwide in September (−12.0%); output outside Japan fell 13.8%, with China down to 21,788 (−65.6%) and Asia down 43.8%, while North America rose 3% and the US 7%. Honda’s exports from Japan to Europe almost doubled to 4,081 (+91%), and its April–September global output was down 6.6%. Toyota built 889,079 vehicles (−3.2%): domestic output rose 5.8% but overseas output fell 7.6% to 569,884; January–September global output was down 2.1% to 7.28m.

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   Sources: Honda release (29 Oct) · Toyota release (29 Oct) · SteelOrbis on Toyota (30 Oct)

9. BYD in Brazil targets 50% local content by January 2027: more than 400 suppliers approved, 250 more in negotiation and 17 partner plants planned on site

   BYD said on 30 Oct at its Camaçari (Bahia) plant that it has approved more than 400 local suppliers and is negotiating with about 250 more, aiming for 50% local content by January 2027. The plan is to house 17 partner supplier plants inside the complex. Reaching 35% local content allows exports to Mercosur, which BYD expects to start in Q1 2027; battery cells remain 85% from China. Investment so far is R$11.3bn.

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   Sources: AutoData (30 Oct, PT) · Poder360 (PT) · R7 Notícias (31 Oct, PT)

10. Ford, GM and Rivian scale up 3D printing from prototypes to plant tooling and some production parts; Ford targets 3D labs at more than 23 plants by year-end

    CNBC reported on 31 Oct that carmakers are spreading additive manufacturing across their plants. Ford runs more than 200 printers and plans 3D labs in more than 23 plants by the end of this year. Rivian has invested more than $5m in printers, says they pay back within about a year, and uses them for tooling and fixtures. GM uses 135 printed parts on the Cadillac Celestiq.

    AI-generated summary · not individually reviewed · check the linked sources

    Sources: CNBC (31 Oct)

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