Automotive and business brief

Snapshot

• EU and China agree to curb Chinese hybrid exports; car parts get lower Chinese tariffs
• Škoda’s harness shortage spreads to the Kodiaq in Kvasiny; Škoda looks to Tunisia or Morocco for harnesses
• Copper ends the week up about 2%; the Escondida mediation deadline falls this week

Top Developments

1. EU and China agree to curb Chinese hybrid exports; car parts get lower Chinese tariffs

   At the end of the Beijing talks on 9 Oct, Trade Commissioner Šefčovič said both sides reached a ‘shared understanding to moderate’ China’s exports of hybrids and plug-in hybrids to the EU, which ‘opens the prospect of cutting China’s exports by more than a half’. The cut is measured against a no-change projection and would keep out ‘several millions’ of cars over four years.…

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

   Sources: European Commission, Šefčovič remarks (PDF) · EU–China joint statement (PDF) · POLITICO · The Guardian

2. Škoda’s harness shortage spreads to the Kodiaq in Kvasiny; Škoda looks to Tunisia or Morocco for harnesses

   The Škoda union paper reported on 8 Oct (via ČTK) that parts problems now also hit the Kodiaq built in Kvasiny, on top of the wiring shortage for the Enyaq and Elroq in Mladá Boleslav; Peaq output is holding. Some shifts in hall M13 are cancelled and the Mladá Boleslav paint shops run a reduced plan for a second week. Seznam Zprávy links the shortage to Russian strikes on Kromberg & Schubert’s plant near Zhytomyr.…

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   Sources: ČTK / České noviny (8 Oct) · iDNES (8 Oct) · Hospodářské noviny

3. Copper ends the week up about 2%; the Escondida mediation deadline falls this week

   LME cash copper settled at $14,689/t on 9 Oct (three-month $14,570), up from $14,335 on 1 Oct. Reuters reported a 2% weekly gain on mine disruptions and Chinese demand: the Yangshan import premium hit a four-year high of $135/t, LME stocks fell to a six-week low of 233,025 t, and Comex stocks are a record 711,609 t.…

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   Sources: Reuters via Kitco (9 Oct) · Westmetall LME settlement data · SMM on Escondida mediation

4. Paris Motor Show opens Monday with a record 20 Chinese brands and €15–18k European EVs

   The show runs 12–18 Oct (press day Monday, Macron attending). Reuters counts a record 20 Chinese brands, twice the 2024 number, including newcomers Aito and Avatr; Aito brings four premium electric SUVs for Europe and wants overseas sales to reach 20% of volume within three years. Bloomberg cites Dataforce data showing Chinese brands took almost 12% of Europe’s market in August, and Chinese car and van imports into the EU rose nearly three quarters to almost 770,000 in January–August.…

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   Sources: Reuters via KTWB (9 Oct) · Bloomberg via The Edge (10 Oct) · RTV SLO on Revoz/Spring · Stellantis Media

5. VW confirms the ID. Tiguan will be built in Emden from early 2027; pre-sales start 13 Oct

   VW premiered the ID. Tiguan on 9 Oct as the MEB+ successor to the ID.4 and ID.5 (more than 950,000 built). Brand CEO Thomas Schäfer called it ‘the ID. Tiguan from Emden’, sold alongside the petrol, diesel and hybrid Tiguan from Wolfsburg. Launch is early 2027, with 58 and 77 kWh batteries, up to 220 kW and up to 600 km WLTP range. It is the first European VW with a co-driver display and adds two Qi2 charging pads and a vehicle-to-load adapter.…

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   Sources: Volkswagen Newsroom (9 Oct) · electrive (9 Oct)

6. Figueruelas: Leapmotor B10 series production starts this week; B05 brought forward to spring 2027

   Stellantis’ Figueruelas plant is due to start series assembly of the Leapmotor B10 in mid-October, with the official event on 16 Oct and about 400 new jobs. El Periódico de Aragón reported on 8 Oct, citing Aragonese industry sources, that the B05 compact will join line 2 with its first pre-series in spring 2027 (March), earlier than planned; earlier reports had pointed to the third quarter of 2027. Suppliers are starting to deliver B05 parts.

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

   Sources: El Periódico de Aragón (8 Oct) · Motor.es · Actualidad Motor (June, earlier timing)

7. Luxshare, Leoni’s majority owner, completes its takeover of chassis supplier BWI

   Luxshare-ICT became the 100% owner of BWI (suspension, braking and steering) after a share-transfer ceremony in Shanghai on 9 Oct, according to BWI and Gasgoo. The combined chassis business has eight R&D centres, seven production sites and two test facilities across China, Europe, North America and South America. Luxshare has owned 74.9% of Leoni since April 2026.

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

   Sources: Gasgoo (10 Oct) · Leoni PR on Luxshare stake (Apr 2026)

8. China September: retail −24%, NEVs −12%, petrol cars collapse while exports lift wholesale

   Full-month CPCA preliminary data (10 Oct) show passenger car retail sales of 1.702m, down 24% year on year (up 10% on August); year to date 13.42m, −21%. NEV retail was 1.141m (−12%), a 67.1% share. Wholesale was 2.528m (−10%), but NEV wholesale hit a 2026 high of 1.672m (+11%), helped by exports. Petrol-car wholesale fell 41%, and domestic petrol-car production dropped 52% in the first three weeks of September. Chinese brands took 29% of the overseas NEV market in August.

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

   Sources: CnEVPost / CPCA (10 Oct) · Mysteel / CPCA (Chinese)

9. Turkey’s September auto exports reach $3.94bn; the supply industry is the largest segment

   OİB data (7–8 Oct) show automotive exports of $3.94bn in September, 15.2% of all Turkish exports, and $31.15bn for January–September. The supply industry exported $1.46bn in September and $12.14bn year to date, 39% of the sector total. Germany was the largest market ($629m), followed by France ($506m) and the UK ($453m); EU countries took 73.4% ($2.89bn).

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

   Sources: OİB press release (8 Oct, Turkish) · Hürriyet Daily News (7 Oct)

10. BMW opens voluntary severance offers to about 40,000 German employees

    BMW launched its voluntary redundancy programme on Thursday 8 Oct, giving about 40,000 eligible staff access to personal offers; the HR portal briefly crashed under demand (Handelsblatt, Automobilwoche). The programme is part of the June plan to cut about 8,000 jobs in Germany by end-2027, excluding direct production, and to reduce departments and management positions by 20% by mid-2027.…

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    Sources: BMWBLOG (11 Oct, citing Handelsblatt and Automobilwoche)

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Market data: TradingView, Yahoo Finance (delayed). Not investment advice.