The simmering feud between Dutch chipmaker Nexperia and its Chinese parent company Wingtech Technology has reached a critical juncture, with both sides trading accusations and global supply chains caught in the crossfire. What began as a government intervention in late September 2025 has now ballooned into a complex, high-stakes standoff threatening to disrupt the automotive and electronics industries worldwide.
At the heart of the dispute is control—who calls the shots at Nexperia, a company that produces billions of chips vital for cars, smartphones, and countless other devices. Tensions erupted when the Dutch government, citing economic security concerns, invoked the Goods Availability Act to temporarily seize control of Nexperia, headquartered in Nijmegen. According to Reuters, this move was swiftly followed by an Amsterdam court decision stripping Wingtech of its authority over the company.
Beijing’s response was equally forceful. The Chinese government halted exports from Nexperia’s mainland factories on October 4, 2025, leading to immediate disruptions in global automotive supply chains. As SCMP reported, these curbs were only relaxed in early November, after Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans announced a suspension of the government’s order as a “constructive step” following talks with Beijing. China, in turn, granted limited exemptions for qualified civilian-use exports, offering a temporary lifeline to manufacturers worldwide.
Yet, the underlying issues remain far from resolved. Nexperia’s Dutch executives have steadfastly refused to allow original CEO Zhang Xuezheng, representing Wingtech, to resume control. This management deadlock has kept Nexperia’s mainland factories from restarting chip deliveries, extending uncertainty for global customers desperate for stability.
On November 27, 2025, Nexperia released an open letter, making a public appeal for cooperation. The company, now led by interim CEO Stefan Tilger, stated it had made “repeated and multiple attempts, both formal and informal, to re-establish contact” with its China-based entities, but had been met with silence. The letter warned that continued breakdowns in communication were “unsustainable and detrimental to all stakeholders involved,” noting that unanswered emails, rejected meeting requests, and stalled decision-making had hindered efforts to stabilize production and delivery schedules. “We must jointly secure the continuity of our global supply chain,” the letter urged, cautioning that further delays could deepen existing disruptions.
As a possible path forward, Nexperia proposed bringing in a neutral external mediator, stating it was open to “professional third-party facilitation” to break the deadlock. The stakes could hardly be higher: Nexperia’s chips, though inexpensive and seemingly mundane, are essential components in everything from car brakes to electric windows. As Reuters highlighted, the ongoing shortage has already forced automakers like Nissan and Honda to cut production and driven German supplier Bosch to reduce factory hours.
Wingtech’s response, delivered on November 28, 2025, was swift and biting. The Chinese parent company accused Nexperia’s Dutch unit of misleading the public and shirking responsibility. “Nexperia’s open letter contains misleading allegations and false information. It further shows that Nexperia is shirking responsibility and lacks sincerity in resolving this incident,” Wingtech stated, according to SCMP. The company insisted it had “proactively expressed good will” and was ready to negotiate the restoration of its lawful control rights, but accused the Dutch side of deliberately avoiding the core issue. “We are not seeking new or additional interests. We are demanding the return of lawful shareholder rights and legitimate control over Nexperia Semiconductor.”
Wingtech also accused Nexperia’s Dutch leadership of plotting to build a non-Chinese supply chain, citing a $300 million plan to expand a Malaysian plant and an internal goal of sourcing 90% of production outside China by mid-2026. Nexperia’s Chinese arm demanded the Dutch business halt all overseas expansion, including in Malaysia, and claimed the Dutch side was stifling communication by deleting the email accounts of Chinese employees and terminating their IT access. “Abandon improper intentions to replace Chinese capacity,” Nexperia China insisted in a statement carried by Reuters.
The Dutch side, for its part, has maintained that it needs to “find a way first to talk to one another constructively,” as a spokesperson for Nexperia’s European headquarters told Reuters on November 28, 2025. The company reiterated its willingness to engage in direct dialogue or through a neutral mediator, but said it had received “no meaningful response” from its Chinese counterparts.
The diplomatic wrangling has drawn in governments and supranational bodies. On November 26, 2025, China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao spoke with EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic about the Nexperia dispute and broader trade issues. Both sides agreed to encourage Nexperia’s Dutch and Chinese entities to reopen talks and pursue a long-term solution to restore supply-chain stability. “China and the EU are highly complementary economically with deep convergence of interests,” said Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, expressing hope for continued economic and trade cooperation with the EU.
Industry observers now see two possible scenarios. If Wingtech regains control of Nexperia, Dutch executives may lose their roles or authority, and the company could face renewed legal exposure under Dutch law and increased scrutiny from Western governments. If Wingtech does not regain control, shipments from Nexperia’s Chinese plants will likely remain suspended, forcing the Dutch-led team to find alternative ways to supply customers—no simple task, given the technical complexity and regulatory hurdles involved in switching chip suppliers.
The supply chain implications are profound. As Ambrose Conroy, CEO of Seraph Consulting, told Reuters, “No one prepared for geopolitical disruption, and they’re still not prepared.” The chips produced by Nexperia, often soldered directly onto automotive components, cannot simply be swapped out for alternatives. Substitution requires months of testing and validation, and even seemingly identical parts can behave differently in vehicles. Nissan’s Chief Performance Officer Guillaume Cartier put it bluntly: “I know what everyone will tell me, ‘Ah, but you didn’t learn from the past.’ Yeah, OK. But do you believe you change all your supply in three years?”
Meanwhile, Wingtech has appealed the decisions stripping it of control over Nexperia to the Netherlands’ Supreme Court, keeping the legal battle alive. The Dutch government’s suspension of its intervention is, at best, a temporary reprieve; the court order remains in force, and Nexperia’s management has not confirmed whether it intends to transfer control back to Zhang or how it plans to ensure uninterrupted chip deliveries.
As the standoff drags on, automakers and electronics firms around the world are left anxiously watching, hoping for a breakthrough. The Nexperia saga has become a case study in how geopolitical tensions can ripple through even the most “low-tech” corners of the global economy, reminding everyone just how fragile—and interconnected—modern supply chains really are.
