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The supervisors’ and staff union at BHP’s Escondida (about 1,020 members), the world’s largest copper mine, said late on 13 Oct that government mediation had ended without a contract and that its legal strike starts with the first shift on Wednesday 14 Oct (Chile morning, early afternoon CEST); at the time of writing the start is not yet confirmed. BHP’s final offer included a CLP 29.5m-per-worker package (end-of-negotiation bonus and loans plus a holiday bonus); the union rejected it over base pay, a monthly production bonus, performance evaluation and a demand to share biometric data with third parties. The union says the operators’ union (about 2,300 members) backs it and that the mine cannot run without supervisors; BHP has not commented. Escondida produced 1.3m t in 2025, about a quarter of Chile’s output, and Chile’s August output was down 13% year on year. At Antofagasta’s Centinela, 709 workers (22% of direct staff) have been on strike since 7 Oct, with mediation resuming on 13 Oct, and Codelco has partly suspended El Teniente after a landslide. LME three-month copper closed 13 Oct at about $14,566/t; the cash premium over three-month was still a steep $99/t (down from $181.50 on Monday).
Companies BHP, Codelco
Source: Reuters via Mining.com.au (14 Oct) · La Tercera (14 Oct) · Diario Minero (13 Oct) · SMM on Centinela (13 Oct) · Reuters metals report via Mining.com.au (14 Oct)
Europe
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said the industry agrees on “90 per cent of the issues” and called for a quick deal on CO₂ rules. EU industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné said the Franco-German deal (stronger Industrial Accelerator Act protections in exchange for looser combustion-engine rules) should be finalised “in the next few hours or in the next few days”, and that he is open to more flexibility as long as decarbonisation targets are not abandoned. No joint text had been published by this morning.
Companies Renault, Volkswagen, Stellantis
Source: Reuters via Boursorama (13 Oct) · Bloomberg (13 Oct) · Reuters on Blume via Devdiscourse (13 Oct) · Euronews on Filosa (13 Oct) · POLITICO Europe (13 Oct)
Europe
Reuters reports that the current draft of the Industrial Accelerator Act leaves out Turkey, the UK and Morocco. Filosa said Stellantis will share European plant capacity with Leapmotor and Dongfeng rather than close plants, and that Europe needs more battery gigafactories to meet Made-in-Europe requirements. BYD’s Stella Li gave no new date for the suspended Manisa (Turkey) plant on 13 Oct, saying only that work on investing in new countries continues.
Companies Ford, Stellantis, Leapmotor, Dongfeng, BYD
Source: Reuters via Investing.com (13 Oct) · Euronews (13 Oct) · Otobülten on BYD Türkiye (13 Oct)
Europe
China’s market regulator SAMR approved Geely’s purchase of 34% of Ford España unconditionally (Reuters, 12 Oct; Europa Press saw the filing on 13 Oct). Ford keeps 66% but both will have joint control of the Valencia (Almussafes) JV, which starts operating in the first half of 2027. Alongside the Kuga, the plan includes a Ford-designed multi-energy family crossover co-developed with Geely from 2028 on Geely’s GEA platform (PHEV, EREV and BEV), two Geely electric SUVs, and a Bronco-family model that does not use GEA. Separately, Leapmotor confirmed in Paris that B10 production has officially started at Stellantis’ Zaragoza plant (Figueruelas), slightly behind the Q3 schedule reported in 2025; the B05 is expected to follow there, and an Opel C-SUV line is planned for 2028.
Companies Geely, Ford, Leapmotor, Stellantis
Source: Reuters via Euronext (12 Oct) · Europa Press (13 Oct) · Ford Authority (13 Oct) · Leapmotor / Stellantis PR (12 Oct) · CnEVPost (13 Oct)
Europe
After a meeting with management, the plant’s independent union said on 12 Oct that management pointed to falling customer demand and lower sales of the brands the plant supplies. No new projects are announced for the short term, and early 2027 is expected to stay difficult, although management is looking for new work and has described 2027 as stable overall. Local media reported on 13 Oct that staff are being called to 30-minute group meetings about production cuts, and that more than 150 workers have signed mutual-termination agreements with severance in recent days. One worker is quoted as saying that those who refuse risk being declared redundant; that comes from a single source and is not confirmed. In September the union had warned staff that the severance amount had not been officially set. The Leskovac site belongs to Aptiv’s former EDS business, spun off as Versigent on 1 April, which reported Q2 EMEA sales down 6% (−11% adjusted) on weak production and programme roll-offs. (Unverified reader comments about specific programmes moving are not included.)
Companies Aptiv, Versigent
Source: Rešetka (12 Oct) · Regionalne Vesti (13 Oct) · JuGmedia (4 Sep, background) · Investing.com on Versigent Q2 (4 Aug, background)
Europe
No serious takeover bid was filed by the 12 Oct midnight deadline for the Caudan (Morbihan) foundry. One filing was judged not credible, and another bidder (an unnamed European industrial group) made its offer conditional on Renault committing to automotive order volumes, which Renault did not do. Provost told franceinfo: “The issue is that there are no longer any automotive industrial outlets.” The Lorient commercial court rules on Thursday 15 Oct, and liquidation is seen as practically inevitable. Renault founded the plant in 1966 and was still 95% of its sales in 2024, buying cast-iron suspension and exhaust parts. Europlasma bought it in 2025 promising a move into defence, but production stopped after a fire in January and the plant went into receivership in July. Industry minister Sébastien Martin said he had offered state money to a bidder, without success.
Companies Renault
Source: franceinfo (13 Oct) · AFP via France 24 (13 Oct)
Global
At its Paris press conference, CEO Christophe Périllat said some Chinese models now go from concept to production in under 24 months. Valeo has cut some development times by up to two-thirds: a new headlamp took seven months from design to start of production, and a China-developed Level 2 system took eight months and has won 10 contracts, eight already in production. For the Renault Trafic Van E-Tech, which he called Renault’s first software-defined vehicle, Valeo supplies the high-performance computer, zonal controllers and sensors. A central compute unit for GM starts production at the end of 2027. Valeo also showed 400V and 800V inverters (800V SiC made in France), says it supports Chinese carmakers localising in Europe, and supplies Chery with thermal management and on-board chargers.
Companies Valeo, Renault, General Motors, Chery
Source: Gasgoo (13 Oct) · Valeo PR (30 Sep, show preview)
Europe
An analysis published on 12 Oct by Automotive Manufacturing Solutions (Ian Henry) reports that Sunderland, built for 600,000 units a year, now runs well below 300,000. Nissan has reportedly told suppliers to assume about 160,000 a year in the medium term, as Leaf and Juke EV plans have been cut to about 40,000 each. All Nissan production moves to Line 2 after the 2027 summer shutdown. Line 1 would build Chery models under contract manufacturing, starting with kit assembly in early 2028 and rapid local sourcing afterwards: right-hand drive first, left-hand drive once local and EU supply chains are in place. Local suppliers are reportedly already receiving Chery RFQs. The deal is not signed (the Nissan–Chery MoU of 3 June is non-binding). The £170m Kicks hybrid (40,000–50,000 a year from mid-2028) depends on EU talks and UK support, and AESC’s battery expansion has been scaled back. The timing also depends on how the IAA applies to the UK.
Companies Nissan, Chery
Source: Automotive Manufacturing Solutions (12 Oct) · Nissan UK PR (3 Jun, MoU background)
Europe
Audi has started a voluntary scheme, supported by the Bavarian and federal economy ministries, that places Ingolstadt staff with defence companies in the region for up to 24 months. They stay Audi employees on their collectively agreed pay plus a supplement and have a guaranteed return. It targets engineers, quality engineers, project managers and technical-development and quality-assurance workshop staff. Audi says interest is ‘very high’; an information event is planned for the end of October, and options for Neckarsulm are being looked at. BR reports that Ingolstadt, built for 450,000 cars a year, will build just over 300,000 this year, based on internal figures. The works council supports the scheme as a way to avoid short-time work; MBDA says it is expanding and hiring.
Companies Audi
Source: BR24 (7 Oct) · SWR (7 Oct)
Global
The Nuremberg insolvency court opened proceedings on 1 Oct (case IE 1040/26) for inability to pay and over-indebtedness. The company filed on 2 July and had been under preliminary administration since 6 July, within a group court venue. Its registered business is the manufacture and sale of connectors, cable assemblies, heat sinks and passive components. Creditors must file claims by 5 Nov, and the creditors’ meeting is on 8 Dec; the creditors’ committee includes Euler Hermes and Lüdenscheid’s Heinrich Rump. ASSMANN WSW has been independent under other owners since 2022. The similarly named ASSMANN Electronic GmbH, on the same industrial estate, is not affected.
Companies ASSMANN WSW
Source: Official §9 InsO notice via Übernahme-Radar (1 Oct) · come-on.de / Lüdenscheider Nachrichten (July background)
Europe
Production of the new Marco Polo started at Ludwigsfelde on 12 Oct. For the first time in more than 40 years the camper is built entirely within Mercedes’ own network: the V-Class base vehicle comes from Vitoria (Spain), and Ludwigsfelde handles the full conversion (roof cut-out to furniture) in a new, digitally planned hall. Ludwigsfelde also builds open-body Sprinter and eSprinter versions and is the launch factory for the new Mercedes-Benz Van Architecture (VAN.EA). VW already builds its rival California in-house.
Companies Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen
Source: Mercedes-Benz PR (12 Oct) · Automotive World (12 Oct)