OPmobility published third-quarter results showing economic revenue of EUR 2.763 billion, up 1.6 per cent year on year at constant exchange rates on a comparable basis, with consolidated organic growth of 2.8 per cent, ahead of the global car market.
By segment, exterior and lighting revenue was EUR 1.266 billion, driven mainly by Eastern Europe after several programmes entered production in North America and Eastern Europe earlier in the year.
Complex modules generated EUR 861 million, up 2.7 per cent, on the strength of the Korean SHB joint venture and an improving United States business. Clean energy systems reached EUR 636 million, up 1.5 per cent, with fuel tanks holding leading share in North America, South America and Asia outside China, and battery packs continuing to ramp.
The China line
Global car production fell 1.9 per cent in the third quarter, weighed down by geopolitical tension and raw material costs. China was the sharp end: domestic output fell 5.6 per cent, passenger car sales dropped 24 per cent, and OPmobility’s China economic revenue fell 33.2 per cent as a result.
Within China, the Yanfeng OPmobility exterior business tracked vehicle output, while fuel tanks stayed under pressure from falling combustion sales.
Asia outside China was the offset. Economic revenue there reached EUR 298 million, up 12.3 per cent, seven percentage points above local vehicle production. Module assembly and fuel tanks grew quickly in Korea, and exterior and tank businesses continued to grow strongly in India. The group plans a new fuel tank plant at Kharkhoda in India before the end of 2026.
Portfolio moves
OPmobility recently signed an agreement to acquire Hyundai Mobis’s lighting business, a transaction expected to close in the second half of 2027, after which the group expects to rank among the core suppliers in automotive lighting. Its fourth plant in Morocco has also come on stream.
Despite a complicated environment, the group confirmed its 2026 targets after updating its annual outlook in early October: operating profit of EUR 430 million to EUR 450 million, free cash flow above EUR 220 million, a significant increase in net profit attributable to the group, and an improvement in net debt against the end of 2025.
Read as a whole, the quarter describes a European supplier doing the only thing available to it. It cannot make Chinese demand return, so it is buying a lighting business, adding plants in India and Morocco, and leaning on Korea, and it is holding guidance while it does so.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Gasgoo report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://auto.gasgoo.com/news/202611/3I70476761C103.shtml.