A major auto supplier for Tesla, VW, Ford to slash 10K jobs
Forvia, a major supplier for Stellantis, Volkswagen, Tesla, and Ford, plans to cut as many as 10,000 jobs in Europe over the next five years. The news falls days after major auto supplier Continental announced that it too was cutting its workforce by 7,150 jobs.
Forvia, the eighth-largest automotive supplier in the world, said it plans to shrink its 75,500 workforce by 13%, including cutting jobs at Hella, its subsidiary that makes lighting, among other parts, for automobiles. It’s all part of a new “EU-Forward” plan to cut costs and boost competitiveness, according to Le Monde.
Forvia, which formed when auto supplier Faurecia took over German auto supplier Hella, reported sales of €27.25 billion for 2023, against €24.57 billion a year prior, according to a press release. It has returned to profit since COVID-19 but remains in debt. Headquartered in Nanterre, France, the company makes interiors, exhaust systems, and headlights, among other equipment for cars.
The move is part of a plan to reduce its dependence on China, where the company makes 27% of its sales and the bulk of its earnings, the report said.
Forvia said it would cut jobs across Europe, namely in France, Germany, Poland, Spain, and the Czech Republic, but warned that all sites would be affected the same way.
“It’s going to affect all sites, but not in the same way,” Forvia CFO Olivier Durand said at a press conference, Le Monde reported. “We’ve had a downturn in the European market, and we don’t see any possible progress in the short or medium term. And we have a number of sites that are not operating at full capacity.”
The group plans to cut jobs over the next five years via attrition and drastically reduced recruitment in Europe. “Our attrition rate is 2,000 to 2,500 people a year. So, in fact, the plan does not mean making 10,000 people redundant,” he added.
The “EU-Forward” plan will be presented to trade unions as of today, with a focus on accelerating the deployment of AI, optimizing R&D investments and costs, and developing new tech.
For this year, Forvia is targeting sales of between €27.5 and €28.5 billion.
Electrek’s Take
There is a lot of restructuring happening as automakers are reducing their production and shifting to EVs, and suppliers are left with excess capacity – a scenario that Forvia says benefits China. In Forvia’s case, it says it has overcapacity primarily in seating and interiors and some lighting. Of course, Forvia isn’t alone in heavy staff reductions, with Continental, Bosch, and ZF Friedrichshafen following suit – the latter has even warned that it might have to reduce as much as 20% of its total staff.
Automotive suppliers, too, have made hefty investments in the shift to electric, and now they are seeing their markets being hit due to slower uptake than expected and the fact that car sales are “historically low,” reports the FT. ZF reported a net debt of €11.5bn at the end of last June, which led to around 800 jobs being axed.
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First Solar just cut the ribbon on a huge new factory in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, and it dwarfs the New Orleans Superdome. The company’s $1.1 billion, fully vertically integrated facility spans 2.4 million square feet, or about 11 times the size of the stadium’s main arena.
The factory began production quietly in July, a few months ahead of schedule, and employs more than 700 people. First Solar expects that number to hit 826 by the end of the year. Once it’s fully online, the site will add 3.5 GW of annual manufacturing capacity. That brings the company’s total US footprint to 14 GW in 2026 and 17.7 GW in 2027, when its newly announced South Carolina plant is anticipated to come online.
The Louisiana plant produces First Solar’s Series 7 modules using US-made materials — glass from Illinois and Ohio, and steel from Mississippi, which is fabricated into backrails in Louisiana.
The new factory leans heavily on AI, from computer vision that spots defects on the line to deep learning tools that help technicians make real‑time adjustments.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says the investment is already a win for the region, bringing in “hundreds of good-paying jobs and new opportunities for Louisiana workers and businesses.” A new economic impact analysis from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette projects that the factory will boost Iberia Parish’s GDP by 4.4% in its first full year at capacity. The average manufacturing compensation package comes in at around $90,000, more than triple the parish’s per capita income.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar framed the new facility as a major step for US clean energy manufacturing: “By competitively producing energy technology in America with American materials, while creating American jobs, we’re demonstrating that US reindustrialization isn’t just a thesis, it’s an operating reality.”
This site joins what’s already the largest solar manufacturing and R&D footprint in the Western Hemisphere: three factories in Ohio, one in Alabama, and R&D centers in Ohio and California. Just last week, First Solar announced a new production line in Gaffney, South Carolina, to onshore more Series 6 module work. By the end of 2026, the company expects to directly employ more than 5,500 people across the US.
Read more: First Solar pours $330M into a new South Carolina solar factory
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No, it’s not the new Bolt. GM’s design team previewed a new high-riding “sporty Chevrolet EV” that should be brought to life.
Is Chevy launching a new sporty EV?
This is the all-electric vehicle Chevy should sell in the US. General Motors’ design team released a series of sketches previewing a sporty new Chevy EV.
Although it kinda looks like the new 2027 Chevy Bolt EV as a higher-sitting compact crossover SUV, the design offers a fresh take on what it should have looked like.
The new Bolt is essentially a modernized version of the outgoing EUV model with a similar compact crossover silhouette. Nissan adopted a similar style with the new 2026 LEAF as buyers continue shifting from smaller sedans and hatchbacks to crossovers and SUVs.
Will we see the sporty Chevy EV in real life? It’s not likely. For one, the “exploration sketch” is by GM China Advanced designer Charles Huang.
GM Design posted the sketches on its global social media page, but the caption read “Sporty Chevrolet EV for the China Market.”
It’s too bad. The Bolt could use a sporty sibling like an SS variant. Chevy introduced the Blazer EV SS (check out our review) for the 2026 model year, its fastest “SS” model yet. Packing up to 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, the Chevy Blazer SS can race from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds when using Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode.
Will the Bolt be next? I wouldn’t get my hopes up. And if GM does bring the sporty Chevy EV to life, it will likely only be sold in China. Like all the fun cars these days.
What do you think of the design? Would you buy one of these in the US? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
While deliveries of the 2027 Bolt are set to begin in early 2026, Chevy is offering some sweet deals on its current EV lineup, including up to $4,000 off in Customer Cash and 0% APR financing for 60 months.
Ready to test drive one? You can use our links below to find Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs at a dealership near you.
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss electricity becoming the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, the new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more.
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