Nexperia issues open letter urging “open dialogue” with China unit as customers report imminent production stoppages

On November 27, the company’s Dutch leadership published the letter, pleading for an open dialogue with its unit in China in order to find a path forward to restoring the regular supply of goods.

This is the latest update in an ongoing saga that has seen the semiconductor supply chain disrupted since the Dutch government seized Nexperia in October. It follows the Dutch minister of economic affairs Vincent Karremans’ announcement on November 20 that he has suspended the order under the Goods Availability Act in which it seized control of the chipmaker, in an attempt to resolve the crisis and resume the regular flow of Nexperia chips from China.

Nexperia’s headquarters in the Netherlands has said it has “made repeated and multiple attempts, both formal and informal, to re-establish the dialogue” with its entities in China, but “did not receive any meaningful response”.

“We welcomed the Chinese authorities’ commitment to facilitate the resumption of exports from Nexperia’s Chinese facility and that of our subcontractors, enabling the continued flow of our products to global markets,” Nexperia said in the statement. “Nevertheless, customers across industries are still reporting imminent production stoppages.”

Several OEMs have warned of the impact of this disruption on their supply chains. Honda, for example, has had to halt operations at its plant in Celaya, Mexico and make adjustments to production in Canada and the US.

In its H1 2025 financial results, Honda forecast a reduction of 110,000 units and a total cost of around ¥150 billion ($969 million) as a result of the crisis.

Meanwhile, Nissan told Reuters on November 18 that it will cut production by another 1,400 vehicles at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, as the fallout from semiconductor supply disruptions linked to Nexperia continues to affect its operations. This followed a reduction in vehicle output by 900 units the previous week.

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And it’s not just OEMs that have been affected. A spokesperson for tier one supplier Bosch told Reuters on October 24: “We are currently doing everything we can to serve our customers and avoid or minimise production restrictions. We have not yet made any adjustments to working hours at our German locations, but are preparing to do so, particularly in Salzgitter.”

News outlets in Germany later reported that, in early November, Bosch reduced working hours at its facilities in Ansbach and Salzgitter. On November 24, reports in Portugal claimed that Bosch’s factory in Braga has been able to resume after it was placed on lay-off in late October due to component shortages, while production disruptions and temporary adjustments to working hours continue at Bosch’s Ansbach and Salzgitter sites.

“This situation cannot persist,” Nexperia asserted. It has urged the leadership of its entities in China to “take immediate steps toward structured negotiations to… restore predictable, established supply flows without delay”.