Daily brief
Automotive & Business Brief — 2 November 2026
The IG Metall strike wave reaches Leoni Kabel, Schaeffler, Vitesco and ZF Wabco today; Forvia shows Electronics +7% and Europe +4% in a falling market and openly pushes inflation pass-through.
Executive Snapshot
- The IG Metall strike wave reaches Leoni Kabel, Schaeffler, Vitesco and ZF Wabco today; Forvia shows Electronics +7% and Europe +4% in a falling market and openly pushes inflation pass-through.
Top Developments
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IG Metall warning strikes widen across Germany on Monday, reaching harness maker Leoni Kabel in Roth, Schaeffler, Vitesco, ZF Wabco and Opel Kaiserslautern; the first third-round date is set for 6 Nov
Europe
After the first walkouts on Sunday, IG Metall has called warning strikes for Monday 2 Nov in Berlin, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bavaria, where 34 plants are affected, including auto plants. In Middle Franconia the list includes harness and cable maker Leoni Kabel in Roth (rally 08:30) and Schaeffler in Herzogenaurach. In the Mitte district (Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Thuringia) the union plans about 60 actions in 37 plants, focused on Koblenz, the Opel site in Kaiserslautern and Schaeffler’s Vitesco near Frankfurt; Daimler Truck in Kassel also stops for a limited time. In Baden-Württemberg, actions include ZF Wabco in Mannheim, TDK Micronas in Freiburg and a central rally at Schaeffler Bühl with Bosch Bühl and PWO. IG Metall wants 5% for 12 months; employers offer a one-off payment in 2027 and 1.3% from July 2028. The only third-round date published so far is 6 Nov in Bremen (Küste district); the other districts are still open.
Companies LEONI, Schaeffler, Vitesco, ZF, Stellantis, Daimler Truck, Bosch
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Forvia Q3: sales €5.08bn (organic −0.6%) but Electronics +7% and Europe +4.1% organically; Interiors sale to Apollo cleared for Q4 closing and 2026 guidance confirmed
Europe
Forvia reported on 2 Nov Q3 sales of €5,079m, up 1.0% reported and down 0.6% organically, outperforming global production (−1.6% to 22.7m units, S&P Global Mobility) by 100bp. Europe grew 4.1% organically to €2,290m, North America 0.4% and the rest of Asia 13.6%, while China fell 17.2% to €945m. By business, Electronics rose 7.0% (radar and energy management, particularly in Europe), Clarion 22.0%, Seating fell 4.4% (half the H1 decline) and Lighting fell 7.8%. Forvia says it is offsetting cost inflation in raw materials, energy, memory chips and PCBs through indexation clauses and customer recoveries ‘to secure appropriate compensation’, and is running a Lighting turnaround plan. All approvals for the Interiors sale to Apollo are in place, with closing in Q4 cutting net debt by more than €1.0bn. 2026 guidance is unchanged: €20–21bn sales, 6.0–6.5% operating margin, net cash flow of at least 3.0% of sales and leverage of 1.5x; it cites S&P’s forecast of a 4.2% drop in global production in Q4.
Companies Forvia
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Autoneum agrees to buy French acoustics supplier Trèves (€720m sales, 26 plants) for up to €64m, about 3.1x EBITDA after synergies, with plant consolidation in Europe planned
Europe
Autoneum announced on 2 Nov that it will acquire the family-owned Trèves Group, a supplier of acoustic and thermal insulation, interior trim and trunk parts with about 4,600 employees, around €720m of 2025 revenue and 26 plants in 15 countries. The upfront price is about €40m, mostly in new Autoneum shares with about €7.5m in cash, plus an earn-out of up to €24m tied to EBITDA and synergies by 2029; a new CHF 200m term loan will refinance Trèves’ bank debt and working capital. Autoneum expects more than CHF 50m of annual synergies by 2029, mainly from footprint optimisation, SG&A and purchasing, with about CHF 60m of restructuring costs in 2027–28. It says the deal adds manufacturing hubs in Morocco, Romania and Brazil and that the overlapping European plant network will be optimised. Pro-forma 2026 revenue is above CHF 2.9bn; closing is expected early in Q1 2027, subject to Trèves works-council consultation and approvals.
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Kia considers building all its European EVs in Žilina (Slovakia) and keeping combustion models in Korea to raise local content ahead of the EU’s ‘Made in Europe’ rules
Europe
On its Q3 call on 30 Oct, Kia’s finance head Kim Seung-jun said the company is reviewing ways to raise its localisation rate in Europe and is considering producing all of its European EV volume in Slovakia while exporting combustion-engine models from Korea; the move will go ahead once confirmed. Kia said Europe’s combustion market shrank 20% in Q3 while EVs grew more than 50%, and it plans to cut the cost of batteries, motors and heat pumps by 10% a year for three years. Žilina already builds the EV4 and EV2 alongside hybrid and combustion models. Kia linked the review to the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act; Korean media report the proposal would require more than 70% EU-sourced parts (excluding batteries) for qualifying EVs.
Companies Kia
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VW signs a letter of intent with Doğuş to explore car production in Türkiye; VW confirms it is examining partly assembled kits from non-European plants, reportedly China-developed FAW models
Europe
Doğuş Otomotiv, VW’s Turkish importer, said on 30 Oct that it had signed a letter of intent with Volkswagen group companies to explore producing VW passenger cars in Türkiye; its shares rose 10%. VW confirmed to Automobil-Produktion that it is examining, with Doğuş, ‘the export of partly assembled vehicles from non-European production sites to Türkiye for the Turkish market’. Automobilwoche reported, as cited by auto motor und sport, that this could mean CKD kits of models from VW’s FAW joint venture in China, such as the Magotan (China’s Passat), Jetta models and Audis. No model, investment, capacity or timing has been decided. VW abandoned a planned €1.3bn, 300,000-unit plant in Manisa in 2020 and invested an additional €500m in Slovakia instead.
Companies Volkswagen
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France October: car registrations up 7% to 149,341 with battery EVs at 41% of the market (24% a year ago); VW group down 15%, Dacia down 24%, light vans down 13%
Europe
PFA data published on 1 Nov show 149,341 new cars registered in October (+7.0%, with one working day fewer) and 1.384m in January–October (+4.4%). Electric cars reached 41% of registrations and 49% including plug-in hybrids, against 24% for EVs a year earlier. Stellantis rose 2.8% to 36,901 (24.7% share; Citroën +11%, Fiat +29%, Peugeot −2%), Renault Group fell 4.1% (Renault brand +4%, Dacia −24%), VW Group fell 14.9% (VW −13%, Audi −30%, Cupra −20%, Škoda +4%) and BMW Group rose 16%. Light commercial vehicles fell 13.0% to 27,822.
Companies Volkswagen, Renault, Stellantis, Audi, SEAT/Cupra, Škoda, BMW
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BMW’s new purchasing terms take effect on 1 Dec: price and warranty terms barely change, but suppliers face wider cybersecurity, sanctions/export-control, sub-tier notification and audit duties
Europe
According to an analysis by law firm Foley & Lardner (26 Oct), BMW’s updated Terms and Conditions for the Purchase of Production Materials (IPC) apply from 1 Dec 2026. Price, warranty duration and late-delivery damages are largely unchanged. New or wider duties include: detailed justification of cost and timing effects of changes; flowing change-control down the supply chain; immediate notice of any change in the supply chain, including a change of subcontractor; compliance with EU, UN, US and China export-control and sanctions law ‘regardless of territorial applicability’; NIS2, EU AI Act and Cyber Resilience Act obligations; regular vulnerability checks and evidence such as ISO/SAE 21434 or TISAX; broader on-site audit rights including fire protection; and BMW’s right to buy spare parts directly from sub-suppliers. BMW has not said whether the terms apply to existing purchase orders.
Companies BMW
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South Korea’s October car exports hit an October record of $6.55bn (+18%), helped by hybrids and extra working days; car exports to the EU up 47% in 1–25 October
Europe
The Korean trade ministry reported on 1 Nov that car exports rose 18.1% to $6.55bn, a record for October, helped by the Chuseok holiday moving into September and strong hybrid exports; auto-parts exports rose 15% to about $1.7bn. Exports to the EU grew 56% overall, and car exports to the EU rose 47% in 1–25 October. Car exports to the US rose 40% in the same period. Total exports rose 94% to $115.3bn on AI-driven chip demand; DDR5 memory fixed prices rose again in October, to $50.0 for a 16Gb chip from $40.0 in June.
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Li Auto hit by a sudden shortage of a custom Samsung 29-inch OLED screen: Mega MPVs built 10 Nov–17 Dec ship with LCDs, and owners get free replacements from March 2027
Global
Li Auto’s product-line head Tang Jing said on Weibo on 2 Nov that the company had received unexpected notice from its partner of a temporary disruption in supply of the custom 29-inch 6K OLED screen Samsung makes for the new Li Mega; supply is not expected to recover until around year-end, and no other supplier offers the same specification. Vehicles built between 10 Nov and 17 Dec will get the 29-inch LCD used in the Li L9 Livis, and Li Auto will replace them with OLEDs free of charge from 1 March 2027, plus a three-year service package as compensation. The screen is designed to be swapped in just over 10 minutes. Mega deliveries had just recovered to more than 3,000 in October.
Sources
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Rare-earth and battery-material controls: China’s suspension still ends on 10 Nov in law, despite the political deal to extend the US–China truce to 10 Jan; no legal notice yet
Asia
E+E Leader reported on 30 Oct that, as of 29 Oct, neither government had published the legal changes needed to extend their export-control suspensions past 9 Nov (US Affiliates Rule) and 10 Nov (China), although both sides agreed in late September to extend the truce to 10 Jan 2027. If no notice appears, China’s licensing for five more rare earths (holmium, erbium, thulium, europium, ytterbium), rare-earth production equipment, lithium batteries and graphite anode material would apply again from 11 Nov; a separate pause on gallium, germanium and antimony to the US runs to 27 Nov. China’s April 2025 licences for dysprosium and terbium, used in high-performance magnets, stay in force regardless. Fastmarkets notes that the suspended rules would also reach foreign-made magnets and products containing Chinese rare-earth inputs.
Earnings Calendar
| Date | Company | Event | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| AptivTier-1 | Aptiv Q3 | ||
| SchaefflerTier-1 | Schaeffler final Q3 | call 10:00 CET | |
| BMWOEM | BMW Q3 | ||
| AumovioTier-1 | Aumovio Q3 | ||
| ToyotaOEM | Toyota H1 | ||
| Daimler TruckOEM | Daimler Truck Q3 and the first third-round metal talks in Bremen |