Daily brief
Automotive & Business Brief — 29 October 2026
VW lost €5.9bn in Q3 after one-offs, with an underlying 3.8% margin and a €31bn cost programme; Renault and Hyundai both blame raw-material costs; but VW’s European BEV orders are up 39%.
Executive Snapshot
- VW lost €5.9bn in Q3 after one-offs, with an underlying 3.8% margin and a €31bn cost programme; Renault and Hyundai both blame raw-material costs; but VW’s European BEV orders are up 39%.
Top Developments
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VW Group 9M: a €5.9bn Q3 operating loss after €7.8bn of one-offs; underlying margin 3.8%, full-year guide of up to 1% confirmed, and a ~€31bn cost programme now in execution
Europe
VW published its nine-month results this morning. Q3 revenue was €75.3bn (−6%) and the Q3 operating result −€5.86bn (−7.8% margin), driven by €7.8bn of special items in the quarter: a €6.4bn Porsche goodwill impairment, about €1bn of China asset impairments and costs for the planned sale of VW Osnabrück. For nine months, revenue was €233.4bn (−2%), the operating result €0.1bn, and €8.8bn (3.8%) before special items. The Core brand group (VW, Škoda, Seat/Cupra) made a 4.1% margin, Progressive (Audi and others) 2.7%. Group production fell 16% in Q3 to 1.79m units. In Europe, order intake rose 4% to 3.0m, BEV orders rose 39%, EVs are about 40% of a 1.1m-unit order bank, and the Electric Urban Car Family has about 150,000 orders. Nine-month automotive net cash flow rose to €4.4bn and net liquidity stands at €33.0bn. The 2026 outlook (revenue about €315bn, operating margin up to 1%) is confirmed.
Companies Volkswagen, Porsche, Škoda, SEAT/Cupra, Audi
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TE Connectivity fiscal Q4: record $5.3bn sales (+12%), auto up 6% organically despite falling vehicle output, orders up 29%; TE sees FY27 global production slightly down but 4–6 points of growth over market
Global
TE reported on 28 Oct. Transportation Solutions sales were $2.60bn (+7.7%) with a 20.0% reported and 21% adjusted margin. Automotive grew 7.0% reported and 5.9% organically, which TE says came from Asia content and ‘improvement in Europe’; commercial transportation grew 18%. Group orders were $6.1bn (+29% year on year), full-year sales $19.9bn and orders $22.2bn, and TE guides double-digit growth in fiscal 2027. On the call, management said global vehicle production should be slightly down in fiscal 2027, but auto growth over market should stay at 4–6 points from in-vehicle data connectivity, powertrain electrification and electronics. TE also pitched humanoid robots as a new market with up to $500 of TE content per robot. Shares fell despite the beat.
Companies TE Connectivity
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Amphenol Q3: auto sales up 9% organically on EVs in all regions, and the Empire Electronics deal (closed in September) adds about $320m of automotive interconnect assemblies
Americas
Amphenol reported on 28 Oct record sales of $10.2bn (+65%; +37% organic), driven mostly by AI data-centre demand. Automotive was 10% of sales and grew 13% in dollars and 9% organically, ‘driven by strength in electric vehicles’ with growth in all regions; auto sales also rose 12% on the quarter. Empire, a Michigan maker of complex interconnect assemblies for automotive, mainly lighting, is expected to have about $320m of 2026 sales and now sits in Amphenol’s Interconnect and Sensor Systems segment. Amphenol expects a slight moderation in auto in Q4 and about 10% auto growth for the full year. It has also signed deals for AdvancedPCB, Dexgreen and Humanetics Sensors; the four acquisitions total about $1.6bn.
Companies Amphenol
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‘Made in Europe’: Türkiye and Morocco stay outside the Franco-German definition; Japan’s PM Takaichi raises it with Merz, but there is no change to the criteria
Europe
Coverage on 28 Oct sets out who loses under the Franco-German compromise on the Industrial Accelerator Act. Eligible production is limited to the EU27 plus the UK and Norway, and 70% of component value (excluding the battery) must be European. Türkiye (73% of its auto exports go to the EU, $30.1bn last year) and Morocco (more than €10bn of Chinese investment) are excluded. Under the German-French plan, hybrids and combustion cars sold after 2035 could also fall under the content rules. CLEPA is asking for an opt-in route for partners that meet objective criteria. At the Japan–Germany summit in Tokyo on 28 Oct, PM Takaichi ‘conveyed Japan’s strong concerns’ about the Act; the leaders only agreed that each side’s interests should be ‘reciprocally taken into consideration’, and reports say there was no move on the criteria.
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VW Puebla strike averted: workers accept the 8.24% deal on the third vote, 72% in favour
Americas
On 28 Oct, members of the SITIAVW union at VW de México in Puebla approved the 12-month agreement by 3,890 votes to 1,493 (72.3%, on a turnout of 5,403 of 6,211), after rejecting two earlier offers. The deal combines 4.4% on base pay, 0.25 points more into the savings fund and a one-off MXN 12,000 payment, backdated to 18 August, plus a job-stability commitment for the contract term. The strike that would have started on 29 Oct is cancelled.
Companies Volkswagen
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Renault Q3: revenue +1.5% on 6% lower volumes; EVs reach 25.8% of passenger-car sales and Renault keeps its ~5.5% margin guide, but warns raw materials will dampen the second half
Europe
Renault reported on 29 Oct Q3 group revenue of €11.6bn (+1.5%) and flat automotive revenue of €9.8bn. Sales volumes fell 6.0% to 497,799; Dacia was down 12.8%. EV sales rose 84.7% and made up 25.8% of passenger cars; with hybrids, electrified cars were 54.9%. Renault also highlighted its Geely partnership in Brazil. Inventory stood at 532,000 vehicles and the European order book covers about two months. Renault confirms a 2026 group operating margin of about 5.5% and about €1bn automotive free cash flow, but says the second-half margin uplift will be smaller because of higher raw material costs. Year to date, Morocco is its 8th-largest market (36.1% share), Romania shows a 24.9% share, and Türkiye volumes fell 18%.
Companies Renault, Geely
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Hyundai Motor Q3: profit up 5.5% on hybrids and a weak won, but it cuts its 2026 sales target to 4.0m and its margin guide to 5.5–6.5%, citing raw materials and US tariffs
Americas
Hyundai reported on 29 Oct Q3 operating profit of KRW 2.7tn (+5.5%; 5.9% margin) on revenue of KRW 45.1tn (−3.4%). Wholesale volume fell 11.3% to 920,710, hit by strikes in Korea. Hybrid sales rose to 167,414 (18.2% of volume). Hyundai lowered its 2026 sales target to 4.0m from 4.16m and its operating margin guide to 5.5–6.5% from 6.3–7.3%, and cut planned automotive investment to KRW 16tn from KRW 17.8tn. It expects the US tariff burden to stay at about KRW 4tn this year.
Companies Hyundai Motor
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VW will take its China-developed electronic architecture (CEA, built with XPeng) global, starting in South America; CARIAD China says Europe is ‘technically feasible’ but a Wolfsburg decision
Asia
On 28 Oct in Hefei, VW announced that its Compact Main Platform with the China Electronic Architecture will be used for next-generation models for ‘Global South’ markets, starting in South America by the end of the decade. It will also ship more China-built VW and Jetta cars to South America and Africa,, and unveiled ‘VEGA’, an 850-volt fast-charging and Level 3-ready package for 2027. CARIAD China CEO Frank Han said deploying the architecture in Europe is technically feasible but up to headquarters, which must weigh geopolitics; Reuters notes VW has ruled out Europe and North America for now. VW China expects the Chinese car market to shrink by about 20% this year. Separately, at its IZB supplier fair VW said engineering and procurement will decide early whether to build, co-develop or buy each technology.
Companies Volkswagen, XPeng
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Toyota reveals a next-generation 1.5-litre hybrid and a ‘multi-pathway’ platform that carries BEV, PHEV and hybrid on one architecture, so plants can change the powertrain mix with demand
Europe
Toyota Motor Europe announced on 28 Oct a new four-cylinder 1.5-litre engine family (naturally aspirated and turbo) designed for electrification, paired with smaller, lighter motors, power control units and inverters, targeting more than 15% better fuel economy. The system fits a new multi-pathway platform designed to work as a full BEV while also taking hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains without changing the body. Toyota says the shared architecture will let factories adjust the powertrain mix to demand, and it plans to sell more of the engines and hybrid systems to other carmakers. Toyota has eight European plants, including in Poland, Czechia and Türkiye.
Companies Toyota
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Samsung SDI posts its highest profit in 12 quarters on storage batteries, expects European EV demand to rise, and keeps its Hungary prismatic-cell expansion on schedule
Europe
Samsung SDI reported on 29 Oct Q3 revenue of KRW 4.69tn (+52.6%) and operating profit of KRW 407.8bn, its highest in 12 quarters, driven mainly by energy-storage and data-centre backup batteries. It says European EV demand should increase in Q4, it has won an LFP battery project for EVs in Europe, and it will continue setting up mass-production lines and a supply chain at its Hungarian base for prismatic cells as planned.
Companies Samsung SDI
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VW opens a recycling hub at Zwickau, but Reuters reports no vehicle production is planned there beyond 2031 and about 8,000 jobs remain at risk
Europe
On 28 Oct, VW opened its first ‘Circular Economy Hub’ at the Zwickau EV plant: 100 retrained workers will dismantle 4,100 vehicles a year from 2027, with up to €90m of VW investment and €10.7m from Saxony, aimed at up to 1,000 jobs in the long run. Reuters reports that Zwickau has no vehicle production planned beyond 2031, and that excess capacity is expected as production shifts. A researcher called the hub a pilot whose commercial case is not yet proven.
Companies Volkswagen
Earnings Calendar
| Date | Company | Event | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| VolkswagenOEM | VW 9M analyst and media call for comments on supplier pricing and the CEA architecture | from 09:00 CET | |
| KiaOEM | Kia Q3 | ||
| LearTier-1 | Lear Q3 | ||
| AptivTier-1 | Aptiv Q3 | ||
| BMWOEM | BMW Q3 |