As of 18:00 CET on March 23 (1:00 GMT on March 24), 334,981 cases of New Crown Pneumonia have been confirmed globally, with 14,652 deaths, and there are now cases of New Crown Pneumonia in 189 countries and territories around the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined it as a pandemic, and the inaction of multiple governments has caused the world to lose a valuable window of opportunity, which has once again hit the global auto industry hard.
What is the global impact of the pandemic on the auto industry? How will the automobile companies cope with the new crown epidemic? How will the upstream and downstream of the industry chain overcome the difficulties? How will the global automotive industry move forward? Auto Headline APP retrieves foreign media reports and launches a new column "Auto Enterprise Epidemic Map" to restore the latest news of the global auto industry every day.
This issue is the March 24th global automotive epidemic broadcast
According to WHO's daily epidemic report, as of 10:00 CET on March 23rd (17:00 GMT on March 23rd), globally, the number of confirmed cases of new cases of Crown pneumonia increased by 40,788 compared with the previous day, reaching 332,930 cases; deaths increased by 1,727 compared with the previous day, reaching 14,510 cases. The number of deaths increased by 1,727 from the previous day to 14,510. There were more than 250,000 confirmed cases of C.N.C.P. outside China.
Three countries have reported their first confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, Syria, Grenada and Mozambique.
Automotive industry chain "cross-border" production
Epidemic, car companies to use their manufacturing advantages co-production of medical equipment and supplies is a common thing, according to incomplete statistics, now at least 11 car companies have joined the ranks of the production of respiratory, of course, automakers involved in the production of medical equipment or supplies And it's not just respirators.
Just recently, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced that one of its factories in Asia will be converted to produce masks for healthcare workers, and will reach its goal of 1 million masks per month in the coming weeks.
Also, FCA and Ferrari are in talks with Italy's largest respirator maker to help it double production of the life-saving machines so desperately needed in the coronavirus crisis.
It's also worth noting that co-production of medical equipment or supplies isn't just for automakers, but also for suppliers who are part of the automotive industry chain and who want to play their part in the outbreak.
According to foreign media reports, general parts suppliers are preparing to manufacture parts for at least 200,000 respirators to help solve the respirator shortage.
Not long ago, GM had already said it was working with a Seattle-area ventilator maker to increase production of the medical devices to help the country through tough times.
The supplier is now reported to have built bridges with GM, Twin?City Die Casting and Myotek, and GM's North American sales chief said that while the companies are all in competition, the only thing left is to stand together in the face of the epidemic.
Toyota two infected, car companies shutdown in progress
The same wave of shutdowns under the epidemic continues.
On March 22, Toyota said in a statement that an infected person had been found on one of the production lines at its Takaoka assembly plant in Toyota City, Japan, after an employee at the plant had already been tested for the virus.
As a result, Toyota said it would shut down the line from March 23 to March 25 to disinfect its employees' workstations, thus preventing further spread of the virus.
Before that, Toyota had already shut down factories around the world, announcing on March 16 that its plant in Portugal would be closed for about two weeks; on March 17 that its plant in the Philippines would be shut down until about mid-April, when it could resume production; and on March 18 that it would suspend all three shifts of production at its plant in France until March 31st.
Since then, on March 19, Toyota Motor North America also announced that all vehicle assembly plants and parts plants located in North America would be shut down from March 23, and that the shutdown would last at least until April 5, with a tentative resumption of production and resumption of work on April 6th.
While last week, President Akio Toyoda, in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, had said that the country's automakers would do everything in their power to keep them thriving in Japan despite the widespread shutdown of overseas plants.
But as the outbreak spread, on March 23, Toyota announced that it would suspend production at five more plants in Japan starting April 3rd.
It is clear that everything does not look easy in the face of the epidemic. It is understood that, as of 10:30 on the 23rd (9:30 Beijing time), Japan's domestic confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia rose to 1102 cases, 41 deaths.
In addition, Ford will also suspend production in India, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam from March 21, with other regional markets to follow, and the shutdown will last several weeks.
Ford has also previously moved to bolster its cash reserves, drawing $15.4 billion (about 109.47 billion yuan) from two separate lines of credit and suspending dividends to stave off damage to its business from the new coronavirus outbreak.
Daimler doesn't need state aid
Not long ago there were media reports that France would resort to such things as state bailouts and nationalization of companies to ensure that big companies could survive.
Recently, Renault's chairman said in a media interview that Renault may seek financial support from the French government, "but nationalization is not on the agenda." In response to the French government's previous statement or "nationalization" of Renault.
Perhaps seeing the French nationalization plan, Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Conlinsohn, recently told the media that although Daimler has halted production at its main plants in Europe because of a new coronavirus, Daimler has enough money and sees no need to apply for state aid.
Additionally, asked if it would help struggling suppliers, Conlinson said, "Discussions are underway with suppliers, and so far there are no liquidity problems in the market."
Although Daimler has halted most of Mercedes-Benz's production in Europe and the U.S. due to supply-chain shortfalls, though its factories in China have resumed work and production. "The vast majority of our dealerships have also reopened." Kang Linsong said, expressing optimism about the Chinese market and Daimler's development in light of the outbreak.
This article was written by the author of Automotive Home, and does not represent the views of Automotive Home.