Daily brief
Open the full brief, including earnings and market notes →
Europe
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. On top of the 35,000 job cuts agreed in December 2024, the Group Target Picture adds about 12,000 more positions at Volkswagen AG by 2030; VW says it still honours the job-security provisions. The in-house agreement covers about 130,000 staff in nine German locations. IG Metall accuses VW of breaking its 2024 commitments and has given VW until the end of October to withdraw the terminations, otherwise it will prepare industrial action. The peace obligation runs to 31 December, so strikes are possible from 1 January.
Companies Volkswagen
Source: Volkswagen Group press release (23 Oct) · Reuters via StreetInsider (23 Oct) · Der Spiegel (24 Oct, DE) · dpa-AFX via Investing.com (24 Oct, DE)
Europe
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. Mirafiori’s body shop is idle 19–30 Oct, and Cassino stops again 26–30 Oct, its fourth straight week with only five working days in October. FIM-CISL now sees 2026 Italian output at about 450,000 vehicles instead of 500,000, and Mirafiori output at about 60,000 rather than 80,000. On 23 Oct the shares fell more than 7% intraday to €3.50, the lowest since the 2021 merger, as Volvo Cars’ loss hit the sector (Reuters). Stellantis reports Q3 on 28 Oct.
Companies Stellantis, Volvo Cars
Source: Askanews (23 Oct, IT) · Reuters via MarketScreener (23 Oct) · Quattroruote (22 Oct, IT) · Stellantis media advisory (Q3 on 28 Oct)
Europe
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. The result is due on the afternoon of Monday 26 Oct.
Companies Mercedes-Benz, Aios
Source: tagesschau / SR (23 Oct, DE) · tagesschau / SR (24 Oct, DE)
Europe
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.
Companies Škoda
Source: Boleslavský deník (22 Oct, CZ) · Aktuálně.cz (1 Oct, CZ, background)
Global
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. Separately, 78% of collectively covered staff in Friedrichshafen voted on 23 Oct for a compromise: the ‘Zeppelin allowance’ becomes a bonus tied to company and individual performance, and the 3.1% tariff increase due on 1 Sep 2026 moves to 1 Jan 2027.
Companies ZF
Source: ZF press release via PresseBox (22 Oct, DE) · Südkurier / dpa (23 Oct, DE) · Südkurier, Zeppelin allowance vote (23 Oct, DE)
Asia
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. Cost headwinds from raw materials, logistics, the Thailand floods and lower call-off accuracy since Q1 (mainly China) pushed full-year adjusted margin guidance to the low end, about 10.5%. Citing S&P Global, Autoliv expects Q4 global light-vehicle production down 4.5% year on year (China −9%, Americas about −2%, Europe about −1%, Japan +2%), but up about 5% on Q3. Management sees no major European production stoppages for November and says European inventories look balanced.
Companies Autoliv
Source: Autoliv Q3 report, Cision (23 Oct) · Autoliv Q3 call transcript, Motley Fool (23 Oct)
Americas
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. Audi says US tariffs cost it about €1.2bn last year because it has no US plant and imports its US vehicles. Döllner would not say whether the deal includes tariff relief. IG Metall chair Christiane Benner called the plant ‘right and necessary’ but demanded firm prospects for German sites; Lower Saxony’s premier said US growth must not displace German jobs.
Companies Audi, Volkswagen
Source: Audi media release (25 Oct) · Reuters via Euronext (25 Oct)
Global
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. Separately, Nexteer opened an assembly plant in Camaçari, Bahia, about 10 km from BYD’s Brazilian car plant. It has built column-assist electric power steering for BYD’s locally built vehicles since early October.
Companies Forvia, Great Wall Motor, BYD
Source: Forvia press release (22 Oct) · Just Auto, Forvia–GWM (23 Oct) · Nexteer press release (Oct) · Just Auto, Nexteer (23 Oct)
Americas
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. Reuters links the move to GM’s retreat from EVs, including a $6bn charge in January. Energy Fuels, which agreed in June to buy VAC for $1.9bn, says the purchase price may be adjusted depending on the arbitration.
Companies General Motors
Source: Reuters via Mining Weekly (23 Oct)
Asia
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. Anti-price-war rules and dealer margins limit discounting, so inventory strategies are cautious. NEV retail for January–September was 7.758m, down 12.8%.
Source: CnEVPost (23 Oct) · GlobalChinaEV (24 Oct)