The supplier, which is preparing for a spinoff next year, said sales were down by 7 percent in the quarter, boosted by strong year-over-year growth in China. Sales in Europe fell by 8 percent in the quarter.

Current automated technology is not capable of replacing a human driver, Thatcham Research said.

The automaker would not say if Evan Horetsky, head of engineering, procurement and construction at the factory being built outside Berlin, was still with the company, Reuters reported.

The interiors specialist has a production-ready chip that Chief Technology Officer Han Hendriks says can choreograph a wide array of functions -- much like a human brain.