The Industrial Brief · No. 40
Most of this week's plant news still cannot be ordered
Mercedes named no site. Honda has not confirmed Ohio. The medicines notice awards no factory. The dates that are real are 19 October at Mirafiori and 30 November for the British electricity filing.
Week of 28 September 2026 · 8 min read
Editor’s note
Mercedes has not named the plants. Honda has not confirmed Ohio. The US medicines notice asks for replies by 26 October and awards nothing. The dates a buyer can use are the Mirafiori stop, 19 to 30 October, and the British electricity window, which closes on 30 November.
01 · Production
Mercedes has not named the two plants
On Monday Michael Schiebe told a Sindelfingen works meeting that, without agreed savings, Mercedes would shut one German assembly plant and one powertrain plant. The company released parts of the speech. It told Reuters that German production does not compete on cost, and that pay is the reason. It named neither site. The general works council said it would fight the threat.
Why it matters. A supplier to a German Mercedes plant still has no site and no date. The speech is a negotiation. The works council has refused it.
02 · Production
Mirafiori stops the 500 for ten working days
Stellantis will stop the electric and hybrid Fiat 500 in the Mirafiori body shop from 19 to 30 October. The unions count 1,074 people, 934 on the line and 140 staff, on cassa integrazione. The company told Il Sole 24 Ore that output has doubled on last year. La Stampa reported that the first half already beat the whole of 2025, and that earlier stops this year were tied to parts, including castings from Teksid at Carmagnola.
Why it matters. The October dates are firm. Volume is higher than last year and the line is still stopping. The next model has not been named.
03 · Production
Honda has not confirmed the Ohio plant
Nikkei reported on Thursday that Honda is in the final stage of a new hybrid plant in Ohio, at ¥300–400 billion, with production in 2030. Reuters carried the report and put the figure at $1.90–2.53 billion. The same account, via Automotive World, added about 250,000 vehicles a year, a possible construction start in 2027, and a dependence on state subsidies. Honda has not confirmed any of it.
Why it matters. A firm that already supplies Marysville, Anna or East Liberty has no new order. Until Honda says the plant is real, the work is the lines already running.
04 · Energy
EnerVenue's first cells are a few hundred a day
EnerVenue started production in Changzhou on Thursday. The chief executive, Henning Rath, told Reuters the plant cost $20–50 million. The Kentucky plan, $264 million and 450 jobs, was dropped. This year's aim is 250 megawatt-hours, about 300 cells a day. One gigawatt-hour is the target for the third quarter of 2027. The cell is nickel-hydrogen, for stationary storage. Plants in North America and Europe are a site choice next year and a start in 2028.
Why it matters. Two hundred and fifty megawatt-hours does not cover one 100-megawatt, four-hour system. A qualification this autumn is a qualification of a line in its first weeks. Kentucky was not built.
05 · Policy
Two governments asked for paperwork
Applications for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme open on 1 October and close at 11.59pm on 30 November. The ceiling is £40 a megawatt-hour, and only if the site passes the published tests. The secondary legislation is not through. In the United States, the Office of Management and Budget's notice of 25 September, 91 FR 60983, asks who can make the 86 essential medicines on the ASPR list: finished dose, active ingredient and starting material, in the United States or near shore. Replies close on 26 October. The notice awards no contract. An 18-month timetable is Bloomberg's account, not the notice.
Why it matters. A British plant that misses 30 November does not get a January decision. A reply on 26 October answers a question. It does not win a factory.
Deep dive
What can sit on a plan
Five things were said this week. Two of them have a date a company can use.
Mercedes may close one assembly plant and one powertrain plant in Germany. It has not said which, or when. Honda may build a hybrid plant in Ohio for ¥300–400 billion, with cars in 2030. Honda has not said so. EnerVenue is making cells in Changzhou, at about 300 a day. That is the first production line, and it is a small one. OMB wants to know who can make 86 medicines. The replies are market research.
Mirafiori's body shop is down from 19 to 30 October. The union count is 1,074. Output has doubled on last year, and the line has still stopped for parts, including castings from Carmagnola. The British electricity filing runs from 1 October to 30 November. At a quarter of the site's grid power or below, on an eligible product, the exemption is zero. The law that would pay it is still with Parliament.
The speeches are in the record. The orders are not, except where a date was printed.
The numbers
- 1,074
- People on the Mirafiori stop, union count
- ¥400bn
- Top of Nikkei's range. Honda has not confirmed it
- 250 MWh
- EnerVenue's aim for Changzhou this year
- 26 Oct
- OMB replies close, 91 FR 60983
On the calendar
- 1 OctBritish electricity applications open. They close at 11.59pm on 30 November.
- 19 OctMirafiori body shop down, electric and hybrid 500, through 30 October.
- 26 OctReplies due on who can make the 86 essential medicines.
- 30 NovLast day to file for a January decision on the electricity cut.
Until Honda confirms it, there is no Ohio plant to tool.
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