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Asia
Foxconn’s investment arm Lin Yin signed final agreements on 16 Oct to take 50% of Mitsubishi Electric Mobility, Mitsubishi Electric’s automotive equipment business, for about ¥115bn (about $727m). The deal values the business at ¥320bn enterprise value and ¥230bn equity value, and the two owners will run it as a 50/50 joint venture. Closing is planned for 1 Oct 2027, subject to antitrust and other approvals. Mitsubishi Electric Mobility has about 6,400 staff and standalone sales of ¥657.6bn in FY2025 (¥875.6bn for the consolidated automotive equipment business). It brings electric powertrains, software and vehicle control; Foxconn brings speed, contract-manufacturing scale and its supply chain. The plan is to sell Japan-developed EV platforms to Japanese carmakers first and expand globally over the medium to long term, with Mitsubishi Electric Mobility targeting ¥1tn in sales. Mitsubishi Electric expects to book an impairment of about ¥100bn in the year to March 2027 and will publish a revised forecast on 30 Oct. Nikkei and Bloomberg reported the deal on 19 Oct.
Companies Foxconn, Mitsubishi Electric
Source: Foxconn press release (16 Oct) · Mitsubishi Electric investor deck (16 Oct, JP) · Nikkei Asia (19 Oct) · Just Auto (19 Oct)
Americas
Unifor said on 19 Oct that 97.3% of voting Stellantis members authorised strike action if needed (votes held 17–18 Oct, covering Windsor, the Toronto casting plant and idled Brampton). The union is not yet in a legal strike position because neither side has asked the conciliator for a ‘No Board’ report; once issued, a strike or lockout can follow after 17 days (Globe and Mail). The sticking points are the future of Brampton, which Stellantis plans to sell to armoured-vehicle maker Roshel, and the economic pattern agreed with Ford and GM; there have been no formal talks since 11 Sep. Separately, more than 6,400 Windsor workers are on a three-week layoff that Stellantis blames on demand and tariffs. In Mexico, the SITIAVW union’s bargaining committee met the Labour Secretary in Mexico City on 19 Oct and then the company (El Economista). VW de México said it is difficult to improve the rejected offer (3.8% from 18 Aug 2026, then inflation plus 0.5% in 2027) and called staff to information sessions today, while the union published picket rosters in three shifts starting 22 Oct at 11:00 Mexico time (19:00 CEST) and holds divisional assemblies on 20–21 Oct.
Companies Stellantis, Volkswagen, Ford, General Motors
Source: Unifor (19 Oct) · CBC News (19 Oct) · The Globe and Mail (19 Oct) · El Economista (19 Oct, ES) · Quadratín Puebla (19 Oct, ES) · LodeHoy (19 Oct, ES)
Americas
A decree published on 13 Oct cut the import duty on certain vehicle assembly parts, including semi- and completely knocked-down kits, from 10% to zero for five years. After analysts suggested Chinese brands such as GAC and JAC could use it to start assembly, the Economy Ministry clarified on 16 Oct that only carmakers with ‘productive installations’ in Mexico qualify. It named no companies, but Reuters’ reading of industry data points to Audi, BMW, Ford, GM, Honda, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Stellantis, Toyota and VW. Eligible firms need bonded-warehouse authorisation, prior ministry approval and VIN-level traceability, and forthcoming guidelines will set minimum domestic production and caps on imports relative to output. The ministry says the aim is to bring production lines from overseas to Mexico, starting with assembly and adding local content later, and cited GM moving two lines from China. Chinese-brand sales in Mexico rose almost 30% in the first half.
Companies JAC, Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Stellantis, Toyota, Volkswagen
Source: Reuters via Investing.com (16 Oct) · Just Auto (19 Oct)
Europe
IG Metall told the Südkurier on 19 Oct that Weber Magdeburg filed for insolvency at the Konstanz court on 13 Oct, which the company confirmed, and that he ‘expects the worst’ for the Markdorf headquarters unless BMW stays as a customer; staff are to be informed next week. Magdeburg (about 120 jobs) lost Porsche, its main customer, at the end of September. MZ lists other recent Saxony-Anhalt failures: KmB in Zörbig (200 jobs, VW cut orders) and Bohai in Harzgerode, which closes at the end of January 2027 with 500 jobs lost. In Italy, Baosteel, majority owner of metal-parts maker Baomarc (Atessa and Lanciano, ex-Honeywell site), said at the 15 Oct shareholder meeting that it wants judicial liquidation after a negotiated crisis procedure failed, rejecting the minority partner’s plan to continue operating. Unions say the plants are running at full production and that a supply stop could halt Stellantis’ Atessa van plant. After a two-hour strike by all 143 staff on 19 Oct, the board postponed its decision until a meeting at the Industry Ministry (MIMIT) on 22 Oct.
Companies Weber Automotive, Stellantis, BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Bohai
Source: Südkurier (19 Oct, DE) · Mitteldeutsche Zeitung / dpa (16 Oct, DE) · Telemax (19 Oct, IT) · Rete8 (16 Oct, IT)
Europe
At the first ‘Invest in Germany’ summit in Berlin on 19 Oct, the economy and research ministries signed a joint declaration of intent with NVIDIA to develop advanced AI models for physical AI, meaning AI built into robots and production systems. NVIDIA will widen its work with Germany’s Industry 4.0 platform and make its models available to small and mid-sized firms and research institutes, not only large groups. The government gave no investment figure; tagesschau cites a media report of a three-digit-million-euro contribution, partly to rent compute in Deutsche Telekom’s AI cloud. Merz urged companies, including car suppliers, to open their industrial data for AI. NVIDIA announced investments in four German start-ups, including Munich robot maker Agile Robots. The same day, Siemens and NVIDIA showed AI tools at Siemens’ Erlangen plant, where Siemens says fully virtual ramp-ups cut engineering effort by up to 85% and agent-based production planning saves up to 20% in cost.
Companies NVIDIA
Source: tagesschau (19 Oct, DE) · NVIDIA blog (19 Oct)
Asia
At E-FOREST Tech Day (19–21 Oct, Uiwang), Hyundai and Kia said their new Ulsan EV plant, the group’s first dedicated EV factory in Korea, starts commercial production this month (Electronic Times). They outlined a move to software-defined factories with standard data platforms across Korean and overseas plants, digital twins, AI agents for factory operations and in-house tunnel-type vision inspection. The ‘Polaris’ manufacturing AI has been in pilot at Ulsan since September. On the show floor, a researcher used a VR headset to guide a virtual robot arm that routes and fastens wiring harnesses, a task the group wants physical-AI robots to take on as it moves into complex, non-standard assembly. The roadmap foresees autonomous manufacturing at its Singapore innovation centre by 2030 and humanoid robots alongside full autonomy in future plants from 2032.
Companies Hyundai Motor, Kia
Source: Hyundai Motor Group (18 Oct) · Electronic Times (19 Oct) · Aju Press (18 Oct)
Europe
Leapmotor International announced on 19 Oct that it plans to build the B05 at Stellantis’ Figueruelas (Zaragoza) plant, following the official start of B10 production there on 16 Oct. The release gives no start date or volumes. Zaragoza also builds the Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208 and Lancia Ypsilon, and an electric Opel SUV is planned for 2028 (electrive). Earlier regional reporting, covered on 19 Oct, pointed to B05 pre-series in spring 2027; today’s news is the company’s own confirmation.
Companies Leapmotor, Stellantis
Source: Stellantis Media / Leapmotor (19 Oct) · electrive (19 Oct)
Asia
China’s statistics bureau (NBS) reported Q3 GDP growth of 4.5% year on year (Q1 5.0%, Q2 4.3%) and 1.2% quarter on quarter. Retail sales of consumer goods rose just 1.1% in the first nine months. NBS industrial data show September vehicle output of 3.063m, down 5.7%, with sedans down 23.4% and SUVs up 11.5%. New-energy vehicle output rose 16.9% to 1.870m, and nine-month vehicle output was 23.37m, down 3.7%. (NBS covers large industrial firms, so its figures differ from the CAAM association data covered on 13 Oct.)
Source: NBS (19 Oct) · NBS industrial output, September (19 Oct, CN) · Caixin Global (19 Oct)
Asia
Heavy rain at the end of September (more than 320 mm in three days) flooded logistics routes in Chonburi, Rayong, Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao, so suppliers could not deliver just-in-time parts. Honda stopped its Prachin Buri and Ayutthaya plants from 2–6 Oct. Toyota stopped Samrong, Ban Pho, Gateway and the Toyota Auto Works plant, then extended the shutdown with phased restarts on 14 Oct (Samrong), 16 Oct (Gateway) and 19 Oct (Ban Pho). The Federation of Thai Industries estimated automotive supply-chain losses of at least THB1.018bn. Nikkei reported on 20 Oct that both carmakers have resumed production as supply chains recover.
Companies Toyota, Honda
Source: Nikkei Asia (20 Oct) · The Nation Thailand (2 Oct) · Bangkok Post (9 Oct)
Americas
Prysmian completed the acquisition of Atkore on 19 Oct at $95 per share in cash, an implied enterprise value of about $3.8bn (€3.3bn). Atkore, which makes conduit, cable management and metal framing, is now a wholly owned subsidiary, has delisted from the NYSE and has redeemed its $400m 2031 notes. The combined group has more than 60 US manufacturing and distribution sites. Prysmian targets about $150m of annual pre-tax synergies within three years and will consolidate Atkore from November 2026.
Companies Prysmian, Atkore
Source: Prysmian press release (19 Oct) · Atkore 8-K, SEC (19 Oct)
Europe
Sumitomo Electric, the parent of harness peer Sumitomo Wiring Systems, opened the UK’s first HVDC subsea cable factory at the Port of Nigg on 19 Oct. The £350m plant has 58,000 m² of floor space and will make 525 kV XLPE HVDC subsea transmission cables and inter-array cables for offshore wind. It creates more than 200 direct jobs and more than 400 across the UK supply chain, and the Scottish government contributed £24.5m. SSEN Transmission’s Shetland 2 link anchored the investment, and National Grid has awarded Sumitomo Electric the HVDC cable for Sea Link.
Companies Sumitomo Electric, Sumitomo Wiring Systems
Source: Sumitomo Electric (19 Oct) · BBC News