Nexperia: The Hague takes control, carmakers run short of chips

2025-10-12 · Publisher : Gouvernement néerlandais / Nexperia · Domain : Industry 4.0 & 5.0

On 12 October 2025, the Netherlands reveals it has taken control of Nexperia, owned by China's Wingtech. Beijing blocks its exports from China in return: car plants stop until the intervention is suspended on 19 November.

### Background On Sunday 12 October 2025, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs reveals it has placed **Nexperia**, a Nijmegen-based semiconductor maker owned by China's **Wingtech**, under its control by invoking the **Goods Availability Act** back in September. Reason: "serious governance shortcomings" threatening knowledge critical to Europe. ### Key facts - Nexperia makes billions of foundation components (transistors, diodes, power management), produced in Europe then assembled and tested in China. - Wingtech's chairman is suspended from his roles at Nexperia; any change to assets or personnel is frozen for up to a year. - Beijing retaliates by blocking Nexperia products from leaving China; carmakers warn of looming shortages. - In late October 2025, **Honda** halts its **Celaya** plant in Mexico for lack of chips. - On 19 November 2025, The Hague **suspends its intervention** as "a show of goodwill", after Beijing again allowed exports. ### Why it matters The crisis shows that a commodity chip can stop a car assembly line. It also reveals how European flows depend on assembly steps in China, and how vulnerable supply chains are to geopolitical decisions. ### Takeaway Six weeks of crisis were enough to show that sovereignty also plays out on the most common components.

Tags : Semi-conducteurs, Chaîne d'approvisionnement, Automobile, Europe, Chine