The Dutch company, owned by Chinese firm Wingtech Technology Co, supplies power-control chips used by automakers from BMW AG to Volkswagen AG.
It notified customers on Oct 29 that it was halting the direct supply of wafers to its assembly plant in China, which accounts for about half of its pre-crisis volumes.
“Nissan Motor Co today warned that the supply of Nexperia components remained fluid,” CFO Jeremie Papin said during an earnings briefing.
He estimated the Japanese carmaker’s risk at ¥25 billion (€160 million).
Amid a dispute with the government in Beijing, Nexperia said its entities in China had stopped operating in accordance with company policy and were ignoring instructions from central management, according to a statement late yesterday.
“We cannot oversee if and when products from our facility in China will be delivered,” Nexperia said.
Because of “the missing transparency and oversight over the manufacturing processes,” the company said it couldn’t guarantee the quality or authenticity of its chips delivered from China after Oct 13.
The payment dispute raises questions over the financial impact on the Nijmegen-based manufacturer as the crisis continues to drag on.
The Dutch government triggered a dispute with Beijing by assuming veto powers over Nexperia in late September over concerns Wingtech was hobbling the chipmaker and threatening the supply of vital components.
The Netherlands cited actions by Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng that represented a “misuse of financial resources for the CEO’s self-enrichment as well as his other companies in China”.
Wingtech has denied those claims and demanded that Zhang get reinstated as Nexperia’s CEO after he was suspended by an Amsterdam court on Oct 7 after a petition by management.
The intervention gave the Dutch state the right to block or change key decisions including the relocation of company parts or dismissing of executives for as long as a year. Beijing retaliated by imposing restrictions on exports of Nexperia’s products.
While China has announced plans to ease export controls, the financial issues and suspended wafer deliveries to the site show that a resolution isn’t yet in sight.
Yesterday, Nexperia said the China unit’s refusal to pay for the wafers shipped to its factory from European plants is “not an isolated incident”.
It alleged that Nexperia China misappropriated seals to authenticate corporate documents and sent unauthorised letters with false information to customers, suppliers and employees.
The unit also set up separate bank accounts without authorisation and directed customers to make payments there, according to Nexperia.
Wingtech representatives didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
To continue fulfilling as many orders as possible, Nexperia continues to ship wafers to other sites.
The company also has assembly plants in Malaysia and Philippines.
“We are offering alternative supply-chain solutions to mitigate disruption and maintain continuity of delivery as much as possible,” it said, without providing details.