Automotive News Europe — 2026-01-15
Automotive Industry
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia claimed that Chinese owner Wingtech Technology was pushing for technology transfers out of Europe and threatening executives in a highly charged court hearing that laid bare how deep and personal a dispute over control has become.
In its bid to regain shareholding rights, Wingtech pushed back by attacking Nexperia’s European management, claiming that the company was performing well before the court’s intervention. It refuted claims that Nexperia was being “emptied out” and said the developments raise major questions about its “unequal treatment” as a Chinese investor.
After ordering Wingtech’s shares to be put under control of independent trustees in October, the Amsterdam Enterprise Chamber is weighing whether to open an investigation into how the chipmaker was managed by Wingtech’s founder Zhang Xuezheng, who was suspended as Nexperia’s CEO by the court.
Representatives for Wingtech and Zhang “are attempting to pressure the Nexperia organization, including through personal attacks and claims for damages,” Guido Dierick, a court-appointed director, said at the hearing on Jan. 14, “They have made thinly veiled threats against the three Nexperia executives present, including me,” he said.
Over a dozen lawyers, representing the companies as well as the Dutch government, presented arguments at the first public hearing since the court’s ruling in October. The court did not provide an exact date for a ruling but said it would be before the start of the Chinese New Year festival on Feb. 17.
If a probe is opened, court-appointed officials may continue to be involved in controlling Nijmegen-based Nexperia, prolonging the dispute. If judges opt against an investigation, Wingtech would regain its authority over the company, effectively ending the standoff that has disrupted the auto industry in Europe and around the world.
The statements included a few new details, including Arnold Croiset van Uchelen — the court-appointed trustee of Wingtech’s shares — saying he had received interest in “investing in or acquiring Nexperia or parts thereof,” which Wingtech rejected.
Otherwise, the hearing served mainly to underscore the deep rifts. For Nexperia, the company asked that the court-directed measures remain in place as it looks to expand production capacity outside of China. Wingtech disputed the characterization of its actions and claimed its loss of control was damaging Nexperia.
Here is a summary of key points made during the hearing:
Nexperia’s argument
Nexperia’s lawyers alleged that Zhang initiated several “radical changes” to the operations that would have made the chipmaker “completely dependent” on China and his own company WingSkySemi. They argued that the Shanghai-based wafer manufacturer was heavily in debt and had too few customers, and Zhang saw Nexperia as a “lifeline.”
A risk-management project presented by Wingtech — dubbed Project Rainbow — became “cover and justification” for moving production and systems to China. For example, design data had to be copied from the U.S. to Chinese servers, and suppliers were to be replaced by Chinese counterparts, according to Nexperia’s lawyers.
Zhang even explored the sale of European factories without the knowledge of key local managers, they said. This approach was counter to Nexperia’s aim of positioning itself as a European semiconductor company amid U.S. trade tensions with China.
After the dispute became public, Nexperia China aligned itself with Wingtech and ceased cooperating with the Dutch headquarters, including not making payments for wafers made by the company’s plants in Europe and halting deliveries to a supply center in Hong Kong for distribution and quality control.
The Dutch company said it had seen signals that Nexperia China is “becoming independent and setting up its own supply chain,” according to documents submitted to the court. It alleged that half of the company’s existing stock was sold to the Chinese automaker BYD, despite obligations toward other customers.
“Wingtech is doing everything it can to destabilize Nexperia in this already challenging situation,” lawyers representing the Dutch company said. “Together with the local Chinese management, it is effectively holding Nexperia’s Chinese subsidiaries hostage.”
Wingtech’s rebuttal
Lawyers for Wingtech, which has owned Nexperia since 2019, said the chipmaker had been performing well under its leadership, notching one of its “best quarters ever” before the court and ministerial actions. The abruptness of the intervention has caused “almost incomprehensible” damage to Nexperia’s business, its customers and Wingtech as a shareholder, they argued.
In its dispute with European managers, Wingtech alleged a disregard for internal procedures, creating risks for the chipmaker. Performance issues included an “unexplained” loss of at least $10 million in gold following a fire in its Hamburg site.
Wingtech refuted Nexperia’s claims that there were plans to transfer business activities entirely outside of Europe. The moves were a contingency plan aimed at dealing with U.S. sanctions and addressing potential instability in the supply chain. On the issue of technology transfers, Wingtech noted that Nexperia’s core expertise in so-called legacy chips is “not at all unique or secret.”
Nexperia’s assertions that Zhang aimed to siphon off business activities to WingSkySemi have since been proven “false and misleading,” they said, adding that Wingtech’s founder had taken steps to improve governance, such as making changes to the board and introducing new policies.
Wingtech’s lawyers argued that an investigation by the court would unlikely unearth new information. In the time taken to carry it out, Nexperia’s revenue will continue to come under pressure and its reputation as a reliable supplier will deteriorate, they said, while also pointing to wider repercussions.
“The reputation of the Netherlands as an open economy and reliable country has been greatly damaged by these interventions,” the Chinese company’s representatives said, adding that the episode has “severely weakened” the confidence of international investors in the Netherlands.