Visteon (NASDAQ:VC) executives highlighted record profitability and strong new business momentum during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, while outlining a 2026 outlook shaped by battery management system (BMS) volume pressure in the U.S. and program discontinuations at Ford. Management also discussed strategic initiatives aimed at diversifying customers, expanding into adjacent mobility markets, and increasing manufacturing vertical integration, with many benefits expected to build into 2027 and beyond.
2025 results: record adjusted EBITDA, strong free cash flow, and record bookings
CEO Sachin Lawande said Visteon delivered a “strong performance” in 2025 despite industry challenges. Full-year net sales were $3.768 billion, which Lawande said came in largely as expected. Displays were described as a standout, with sales growing about 20% year-over-year on demand for larger and more advanced displays.
On profitability, management said 2025 was a record year. Adjusted EBITDA reached $492 million, or 13.1% of sales, the highest in company history, and the company generated “very strong” adjusted free cash flow.
New business activity was another major theme. Lawande said Visteon delivered a record $7.4 billion of new business wins in 2025, up 20% from 2024, despite slower OEM quote activity in Europe and the U.S. Displays and SmartCore were key contributors, accounting for about three-quarters of total wins. Nearly 50% of 2025 wins were for displays, and about 15% of wins came from two-wheeler and commercial vehicle manufacturers, compared with roughly 4% of current sales.
Regional performance and launches
Lawande provided a regional overview of 2025 performance:
- Americas: Sales were pressured by lower customer vehicle production and a steep drop in EV production at GM and Stellantis. Lawande said DMS sales stepped down further in Q4 after EV tax credit expiration, representing an approximately 8% headwind to 2025 Americas sales. Offsets included growth in digital clusters, displays, and infotainment at Ford, VW, Toyota, and Nissan. Visteon reported 5% growth over market in the region.
- Europe: Management called Europe a standout, despite lower production and a cybersecurity-related disruption at JLR. Ramp-ups of newly launched large displays and digital clusters with Audi, Ford, and Renault helped drive 11% growth over market. The company also benefited from acquired engineering services businesses.
- Rest of Asia: Sales were essentially flat, with growth in India and Southeast Asia offset by declines with some customers in Japan. Two-wheeler programs with Honda, Royal Enfield, and TVS were cited, along with a digital cluster launch with Mitsubishi across multiple car lines.
- China: Sales declined year-over-year, driven primarily by market share losses among global OEMs and, to a lesser extent, mix and a product transition at Geely. Lawande noted sequential sales growth in Q4 supported by new launches, including a cockpit domain controller with Geely.
Operationally, Visteon launched new products on 86 vehicle models across 19 manufacturers in 2025. Lawande highlighted fourth-quarter launches including a digital cluster on refreshed Toyota Corolla and Corolla Cross models in China, a center information display on the Mazda CX-5 in China, a SmartCore system with Zeekr, and a SmartCore-based cockpit system on Mahindra’s XUV700 in India featuring three 12-inch displays.
Fourth-quarter details: customer claim benefit and margin commentary
CFO Jerome Rouquet said fourth-quarter sales were $948 million, above expectations, driven largely by customer recoveries related to program shortfalls. He noted sales benefited by $30 million related to a customer claim on a U.S. EV program, with a portion used to settle supplier obligations.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $110 million, or 11.6% margin, slightly above the midpoint of guidance. Rouquet said one-time items were a modest headwind, as elevated warranty expense and costs associated with resourcing away from Nexperia more than offset the EBITDA benefit from the customer claim. Excluding those items, he said adjusted EBITDA margin would have been approximately 12.5% on a normalized basis.
Adjusted free cash flow in Q4 was $77 million. The company returned $50 million via share repurchases and $7 million$472 million.
2026 outlook: sales range, temporary headwinds, and memory cost dynamics
For 2026, management guided sales to roughly $3.625 billion to $3.825 billion (with Lawande citing a similar range of $3.65 billion to $3.85 billion). Lawande and Rouquet described two main headwinds expected to be “largely behind” the company in 2027: lower U.S. EV production driving a nearly 50% year-over-year decline in BMS volume in the Americas, and Ford vehicle discontinuations in 2025 that removed Visteon content with no successor programs.
Rouquet said the outlook is based primarily on the January S&P forecast, with customer-weighted production expected to be down in the low single digits and Visteon’s growth over market also in the low single digits. He also reiterated that net pricing, FX, and other commercial items are expected to be about a 2% headwind to sales year-over-year.
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $455 million to $495 million, implying a midpoint margin of 12.8%. Rouquet said 2025 included a net benefit of just under $30 million above normal run rate, with only about $10 million expected to repeat in 2026, creating a $20 million headwind. Excluding that, he said adjusted EBITDA dollars are expected to be roughly flat year-over-year despite lower sales.
Management also addressed memory costs and supply. Rouquet said guidance includes higher memory cost representing about 2% of sales on a year-over-year basis, and the company is in active discussions with customers to pass along these costs, assuming some timing mismatch between costs incurred and recoveries. In Q&A, Lawande said Visteon began engaging memory suppliers late in 2025 and has been working to secure capacity, develop pin-to-pin compatible replacements, and engage emerging suppliers, including in China. Rouquet added that the company intends to recover the majority of these memory cost increases, with timing effects expected to be most visible in the first quarter.
Adjusted free cash flow guidance for 2026 was $170 million to $210 million, with CapEx expected around $150 million (about 4% of sales) to support a second manufacturing facility in India, upcoming launches, and vertical integration.
Capital allocation: higher dividend, M&A focus, and investor day
Rouquet said Visteon expects to have more than $500 million of cash available to deploy in 2026, combining cash on hand and expected generation. The company plans to increase its quarterly dividend to $0.375 per share, a 36% increase, which he said equates to about $40 million annually. Management also intends to remain active in share repurchases, at minimum offsetting dilution and potentially being more opportunistic depending on market conditions and M&A activity.
On M&A, Rouquet said the company is focused on bolt-on acquisitions that add technology capabilities—particularly engineering services—and are margin accretive from day one. Lawande added that as cockpit systems integrate more ECUs, Visteon is looking for opportunities to bring technology elements in-house to reduce cost and integrate more content, including potential future integration related to ADAS.
Visteon also announced an Investor Day scheduled for June 25 in New York City, where the company expects to provide additional detail on its long-term outlook and strategic initiatives.
About Visteon (NASDAQ:VC)
Visteon Corporation is a global automotive electronics supplier that specializes in designing, engineering and manufacturing cockpit electronics and connected vehicle solutions. The company’s product portfolio spans digital instrument clusters, infotainment systems, domain controllers and advanced driver interaction technologies. By integrating hardware, software and services, Visteon aims to deliver complete cockpit electronics platforms that enhance driver experience, safety and connectivity.
Founded in 2000 as a spin-off from Ford Motor Company, Visteon has evolved its focus toward next-generation electronics and software-driven vehicle architectures.
