Automotive and business brief

Snapshot

• VW and IG Metall agree to open formal talks on 24 Nov in Emden (then 15 Dec in Zwickau); VW now wants about 12,000 more job cuts at Volkswagen AG by 2030 and publicly funded transfer companies, while IG Metall’s end-October ultimatum still stands
• Stellantis halts ten European assembly plants in October; an Italian truckers’ protest over diesel prices stops Melfi, Pomigliano and Atessa, and the shares hit a record low
• Mercedes headliner supplier Aios (Saarland) files for self-administered insolvency; IG Metall calls a ballot on an indefinite strike, result due Monday 26 Oct

Top Developments

1. VW and IG Metall agree to open formal talks on 24 Nov in Emden (then 15 Dec in Zwickau); VW now wants about 12,000 more job cuts at Volkswagen AG by 2030 and publicly funded transfer companies, while IG Metall’s end-October ultimatum still stands

   After the second review meeting in Hanover on 23 Oct, VW and IG Metall agreed to start negotiations on the ten terminated collective agreements and both sides’ demands on 24 November at the Emden site, continuing on 15 December in Zwickau; both are plants whose future is open. VW says it wants to cut labour costs ‘as quickly as possible’ under its Future Plan 2030 and to negotiate transfer companies eligible for public funding.…

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   Sources: Volkswagen Group press release (23 Oct) · Reuters via StreetInsider (23 Oct) · Der Spiegel (24 Oct, DE) · dpa-AFX via Investing.com (24 Oct, DE)

2. Stellantis halts ten European assembly plants in October; an Italian truckers’ protest over diesel prices stops Melfi, Pomigliano and Atessa, and the shares hit a record low

   Askanews counts stoppages at ten Stellantis plants in Europe this month. A truck drivers’ protest against fuel costs cut deliveries to southern Italy: Melfi stands on 22, 23 and 26 Oct for missing parts, Pomigliano stopped on 22–23 Oct, and Atessa (vans) lost shifts before restarting from the third shift on 22 Oct. Termoli’s GSE engine shop (about 400 staff) has been out all week and stays out on 26 Oct.…

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   Sources: Askanews (23 Oct, IT) · Reuters via MarketScreener (23 Oct) · Quattroruote (22 Oct, IT) · Stellantis media advisory (Q3 on 28 Oct)

3. Mercedes headliner supplier Aios (Saarland) files for self-administered insolvency; IG Metall calls a ballot on an indefinite strike, result due Monday 26 Oct

   Aios, based in Überherrn-Altforweiler, filed for insolvency in self-administration on 23 Oct. It makes roof headliners for Mercedes-Benz and employs about 300 people: about 240 at headquarters plus sites in Bremen and Sindelfingen. IG Metall says management has presented no plan for the future; it had already held a warning strike in September. On 24 Oct about 170 employees met and the union called a ballot on an indefinite strike, which it sees as the only way to influence the insolvency process.…

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   Sources: tagesschau / SR (23 Oct, DE) · tagesschau / SR (24 Oct, DE)

4. Škoda’s harness shortage still limits EV output: hall M13 in Mladá Boleslav keeps night shifts cancelled and runs afternoon shifts only on Tuesday and Friday in the week of 26 Oct

   Boleslavský deník reported on 22 Oct that Škoda staff in hall M13 (Enyaq, Elroq) still do not work night shifts because of missing cable components supplied from Ukraine. In the coming week the afternoon shift runs only on Tuesday and Friday; staff sent home receive 80% of pay. According to the union newsletter, shifts are gradually being restored and production should soon return to normal, but no date is given. The cuts were first reported in early October; Škoda has not commented publicly or named the supplier.

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   Sources: Boleslavský deník (22 Oct, CZ) · Aktuálně.cz (1 Oct, CZ, background)

5. ZF lifts its nine-month adjusted EBIT margin to 4.9% (from 3.6%) on flat sales of €28.9bn; Europe and Asia stagnate, and Friedrichshafen staff accept a performance-linked bonus and a 3.1% pay rise delayed to January 2027

   ZF’s sales for January–September were €28.9bn, flat in nominal terms and up 1.4% organically, driven by North American orders while Europe and Asia-Pacific stagnated. Adjusted EBIT rose by €368m to €1.4bn (4.9% margin, at the top of the 4–5% full-year range), and adjusted free cash flow reached about €1.1bn (prior year €683m). Net debt was €10.1bn and leverage improved to 2.61x from 2.98x; a €750m 5.75% bond placed in September refinances 2027–28 maturities.…

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   Sources: ZF press release via PresseBox (22 Oct, DE) · Südkurier / dpa (23 Oct, DE) · Südkurier, Zeppelin allowance vote (23 Oct, DE)

6. Autoliv Q3: organic sales down 1.1% against global light-vehicle output down 1.9%, but it underperformed in EMEA; Q4 European output is seen down about 1% and China down 9%, and call-off accuracy has worsened

   Q3 net sales were $2,693m (−0.5%; organic −1.1%) with a 9.7% adjusted operating margin. Autoliv outperformed in China (about +20pp with Chinese OEMs, now 58% of its China sales) and India, and underperformed in EMEA; the CEO pointed to OEM mix and to Chinese-built cars exported to Europe, whose Autoliv content shows up in its China sales.…

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   Sources: Autoliv Q3 report, Cision (23 Oct) · Autoliv Q3 call transcript, Motley Fool (23 Oct)

7. Audi plans its first US plant: about $4bn in Georgia, up to 200,000 SUVs a year from the early 2030s and about 4,500 jobs; VW’s supervisory board still has to approve

   Audi announced on 25 Oct that it intends to build a plant at the Middle Georgia Mega Site, with construction from 2027 and start of production in the early 2030s, designed for up to 200,000 vehicles a year. CEO Gernot Döllner stood with President Trump at a rally in Perry, Georgia, on 24 Oct. A US official told Reuters the plant would build the Q7, Q8 and Q9, and that Audi also plans about 25,000 vehicles a year at Scout Motors’ South Carolina plant.…

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   Sources: Audi media release (25 Oct) · Reuters via Euronext (25 Oct)

8. Western Tier-1s follow Chinese OEMs abroad: Forvia and Great Wall Motor sign a global strategic cooperation framework, and Nexteer opens a steering plant 10 km from BYD in Brazil

   On 22 Oct Forvia and Great Wall Motor turned their long-standing supply relationship in China into a Global Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement for GWM’s key international markets. It covers innovation, industrial excellence, supply-chain resilience, sustainability and talent, and uses Forvia’s seating, clean-mobility, electronics and lighting businesses and its global plants on a local-for-local model.…

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   Sources: Forvia press release (22 Oct) · Just Auto, Forvia–GWM (23 Oct) · Nexteer press release (Oct) · Just Auto, Nexteer (23 Oct)

9. GM cancelled its long-term rare-earth magnet supply deal with VAC’s new US plant in South Carolina, which was built to sell 90% of its output to GM; the two sides are in arbitration (Reuters)

   Reuters reported on 23 Oct, based on documents, that GM ended its strategic sourcing agreement with e-VAC Magnetics, the US unit of Germany’s Vacuumschmelze. GM terminated the deal effective 1 July and VAC started arbitration days later, claiming wrongful termination. The $500m Sumter County plant, with just under 2,000 t a year of capacity, started up late last year; 90% of its output was meant for GM and the rest for the US government. GM did not give a reason.…

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   Sources: Reuters via Mining Weekly (23 Oct)

10. China in October: CPCA expects passenger-car retail down 28.9% year on year to about 1.6m, with NEV retail down 16.5% to 1.07m, the tenth monthly fall in a row

    The China Passenger Car Association’s 23 Oct forecast puts October NEV retail at about 1.07m (−16.5% year on year, −1.3% on September), with penetration at 66.9%, and total passenger-car retail at about 1.6m (−28.9%). Showroom traffic faded quickly after the National Day holiday: average daily retail fell from about 58,000 in week two to 47,000 in week three. Most leading carmakers had reached less than 60% of their annual targets after nine months.…

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

    Sources: CnEVPost (23 Oct) · GlobalChinaEV (24 Oct)

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