Forvia sales hurt by slower production at key China clients, exchange rates

By Mathias de Rozario

(Reuters) -Car parts supplier Forvia's sales fell nearly 4% in the third quarter, dragged by negative currency exchange conditions and lower car production at its two main clients in China, the French group said on Monday.

Shares of Forvia, which makes car parts from lights and electronics to seating solutions, fell more than 5% by 1003 GMT, on track for their biggest daily drop since early April if the losses hold.

Its quarterly sales were down 3.7% at 6.12 billion euros ($7.14 billion), which included a 238-million-euro currency exchange hit mainly related to the euro's depreciation against the U.S. dollar and the Chinese yuan.

Strong performance of Chinese automaker Chery — with whom Forvia recently signed a letter of intent for global strategic cooperation — only partially offset a slowdown at Forvia's key customers, BYD and Li Auto, it said.

BYD has slowed down and cleaned up its stock, which meant a temporary fall in production numbers, Forvia's finance chief Olivier Durand told journalists in a call.

Auto production grew 9.8% in China in the third quarter, while Forvia's sales there fell 7.4%. As a result, the group's organic sales were flat, even as global auto production grew 4.4%, according to S&P's mobility forecast.

"We are continuing to develop with our most important customers, but also with new ones," Durand said, naming Huawei, Xiaomi and Alibaba as examples of a "new generation" of companies entering Forvia's clientele in China.

However, Forvia sees more uncertainty and volatility in fourth-quarter sales volumes, with worldwide light vehicle production expected to fall by 2.8% amid tensions on supply and logistic chains.

Earlier in October, Nexperia warned carmakers and their suppliers that it could no longer guarantee the delivery of its chips, the European Union's auto association ACEA said.

"Since the shortage periods, we have set up monitoring, substitution and active approval organisations, so we have everything in place to deal with this situation," Durand said.

A temporary stoppage at Stellantis' plants in Europe is also expected to have an impact of "a few dozen" million euros on Forvia's sales in the final quarter of 2025, he added.

Despite those headwinds, Forvia confirmed its outlook for the year, as it continues to implement its cost reduction programme.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Mathias de Rozario in Gdansk, additional reporting from Gilles Guillaume in Paris; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)