Abstract:
When a listed company roasted more than a hundred fresh graduates on the fire, they never expected that this young generation would not only be trapped in the long process of labor arbitration, but would directly bring internal employment conflicts to its most important car company customers.
In August, just over a month after the 440 fresh graduates from the class of 2026 joined the company, Xingyu’s HR began interviewing them in batches. The plan was simple and crude. You had to choose one: either sign a "resignation for personal reasons" and get half a month's salary and leave; or refuse to sign and go to the assembly line to punch screws and plug in wiring harnesses, and the salary would be recalculated according to the standard for ordinary workers. As soon as the recording was exposed, the entire Internet was in an uproar. In the end, 107 people were terminated from their contracts. The Changzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau determined that the methods were "simple and blunt" and the human resources director was suspended. Xingyu issued an apology letter and promised to pay six months' salary if he did not find a job for three months.
This matter originally reached the stage of apology + compensation, but according to the previous script, it should gradually cool down.
But this time is different.
This time the workers did not stay in the comment area to criticize, they directly sent the materials to Xingyu’s customers.
On September 1, a spokesperson for Volkswagen China responded publicly: After receiving complaints about "Xingyu Shares dispelling fresh graduates in batches", it attached great importance to it and launched a special investigation as soon as possible. Respecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers is a core principle that the Volkswagen Group adheres to in all business activities. This also runs through the management of our supply chain system. We demand that all basic values and rights must be fully protected.
Mercedes-Benz is earlier. On August 30, the Mercedes-Benz BPO (Business Personnel Protection Office) responded to the whistleblower, clearly stating that the behavior described in the report "does not comply with Mercedes-Benz corporate principles", the clues have been accepted, and further review has been initiated.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange also received a complaint email and forwarded it to the Listing Division, which is currently checking it on a case-by-case basis.
The internal layoffs at a Changzhou car lighting factory alarmed two German car companies and an exchange within a month. This operation is textbook level.
Why does Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have to control it?
You will understand if you look at Xingyu’s financial report. This company's revenue in 2025 is 15.257 billion, making it the leader in domestic car lights. Its customer list is clearly stated in the 2026 semi-annual report:
Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC-Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Beijing Benz, BMW, BMW Brilliance, General Motors, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, FAW-Hongqi, Chery, Geely, Ideal, NIO, Xpeng, Cyrus... basically all the car companies on the market that you can name. The top five customers contributed 64.7% of sales.
What does this mean? This means that Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz’s supply chain review is serious. In ESG assessment, supply chain employment compliance is a hard indicator. No matter how bright your lights are, if your employees’ rights and interests are tainted, it will be a deducted item in the supplier rating system of multinational car companies.
Xingyu is rushing to be listed on the Hong Kong stock market. It just submitted its application at the end of July and received the registration notice from the China Securities Regulatory Commission on August 14. At this moment, one of its largest customers has launched a compliance investigation. You can imagine the feeling.
Look at another set of intriguing data: from 2022 to 2024, Xingyu’s employees expanded from 7,376 to 10,426; in 2025, the number of employees will be reduced by 2,894, a decrease of 27.8%. During the same period, labor outsourcing hours soared from 2.38 million hours to 10.87 million hours, and outsourcing remuneration increased from 65.73 million to 302 million. Formal work-for-outsourcing, cost accounting is clearly calculated.
This time the dismissal of fresh graduates was questioned by the market as an action to beautify the financial report before the Hong Kong stock market. The timing was indeed too coincidental.
Nio: People sit at home, and the pot comes from the supply chain
The most unjust person may be Li Bin.
In 2025, Li Bin had a conversation with Zhou Xiaoping, chairman of Xingyu Co., Ltd., who is also an ET9 car owner in the 32nd episode of "ET9 Living Room". In the program, Li Bin praised the ES8 smart headlights jointly developed by the two companies. The low beam brightness is 80% higher than the industry average. It is one of the most advanced and safest car lights in the industry.
As a result, this old video was dug up by netizens, and the comment area is now full of "Boycott Xingyu", "Whoever uses Xingyu lights will not buy his car", and even directly shouted "Boycott NIO".
Li Bin said that both Xingyu and NIO have a particularly dedicated and hard-working team
To be fair, Xingyu was the one who did the wrong thing, and hitting Weilai on the head would be a bit of a disaster for Chiyu. But the logic of netizens cannot be refuted: the supplier you choose is, to a certain extent, your circle of friends. Li Bin personally stood up for his supply chain partners. This kind of endorsement became a channel for backlash after the incident.
Car companies also have difficulties. Car lights are not screws. Changing suppliers requires a long process of matching, testing, and calibration. It cannot be cut off as soon as public opinion comes. Xingyu has customers all over the industry. If anyone really wants to use it, then almost no car company can stand alone. The spread of public opinion is measured in hours, and industrial adjustment is measured in years. This dislocation is the real situation that all car companies are facing now when facing the Xingyu incident.
This time the workers were beaten in a different way
The most memorable thing about this incident is not Xingyu’s apology and Volkswagen-Benz’s investigation, but the rights protection path taken by these fresh graduates.
In the past, when encountering this kind of thing, all you could do was post a message, complain to the labor inspection, or contact the media. What they did this time was: sort out the materials and send them to Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
It directly hit Xingyu’s most painful area: orders and listings.
A supplier may not care much about public opinion, but it is impossible not to care about the compliance review of major customers and the gate of the capital market. Party B can bully the workers, but cannot bully Party A who places orders for itself. This group of young people who had just graduated from school spent a month figuring out something that many older employees had not figured out in ten years: power is not where the volume is loud, but at key nodes in the chain.
Of course, don't rush to be optimistic. Mercedes-Benz's reply is just a clue acceptance, not a conclusion; Volkswagen's investigation is "in progress" and the result is unknown; the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is currently only verifying cases.
In addition, there has been no public answer to the issue of double working hours standards for Chinese and foreign employees at Xingyu’s Serbian factory.
But the tide has certainly changed. In the past, it was "if you don't do it, others will do it." Now, migrant workers have learned to follow the supply chain to find the Party A. For a company like Xingyu, the compensation for 107 people is a small matter, but it is a big deal for customers to re-examine it.
Car lights are used to illuminate others, now it’s time for Xingyu to illuminate himself.
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