Local time on March 17, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess (Herbert?Diess) announced at the online presentation of the annual report that VW will temporarily shut down the vast majority of its plants in Europe for three weeks starting next week.
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed that as of March 11, the resumption rate of 23 enterprise groups (accounting for more than 96 percent of annual sales) had reached 90.1 percent. Chinese car companies are in in gradually resuming normal production, however, more and more overseas car companies have been forced to shut down and reduce production under the global ravages of the epidemic.
According to the statistics of the test drive report, as of this writing, at least 23 car companies are affected by the epidemic in Europe and need to stop production and reduce production. Among them, the main battlefield in Europe PSA (Peugeot Citroen Group) and FCA (Fiat Chrysler) Group, the most "injured", their respective European factories are facing a large area of shutdowns and shutdowns, and is expected to March 27 before and after the resumption of work will not be.
Outside Europe, also affected by the epidemic, the U.S. car companies "operation" is not the same, did not occur large-scale shutdown wave.
According to Reuters, the Los Angeles Times and other foreign media reports, on March 17, EST, Tesla's Fremont Superfactory, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the local government issued a three-week "closure order", but still maintains operations.
European auto industry shut down production
The epidemic has led many European countries to introduce strict control measures. Among them, Volkswagen Group, PSA, FCA, Nissan-Renault alliance and other European head of the automobile group are affected to varying degrees, implicated by at least 23 car brands.
According to public information, the production stoppage of the above head automobile groups needs to last at least until the end of March, and many of these factories are shut down because of the shortage of parts supply.
There is no doubt that the shutdown will bring huge economic damage to the car companies, and there are even foreign media reports that a Seat spokesman revealed that the shutdown may result in layoffs.
In addition, supercar brands including Lamborghini and Ferrari are also affected. Ferrari released a statement saying that the company has decided to suspend operations at its two production facilities in Maranello and Modena until March 27, taking into account the safety and rights of its employees. During the suspension, Ferrari claims to be paying its employees normally and has canceled the Ferrari team's F1 race.
In addition to the car factory, Brembo (Brembo), Marelli (Magneti? Marelli) and other head of the European auto parts suppliers also need to stop work and production.
While the European automotive industry is facing widespread shutdowns, the impact on China's domestic market will be limited.
According to the test drive report, Brembo, Marelli and other parts suppliers have production lines in China. As for complete vehicles, only individual brands and models need to be imported from affected European regions, such as the Porsche Cayenne.
On March 17, the sales manager of a Porsche center in Guangzhou confirmed to the test-drive report that the current Porsche Cayenne originates from Slovakia. Previously, Volkswagen announced that the factory in Bratislava, Slovakia, had stopped production due to the country's state of emergency, and the sales manager told the test-drive report, "There is no problem with the inventory for the time being, and there are still cars in transit."
According to the test-drive report, similar to the Porsche Cayenne, the domestic models on sale due to the suspension of production or affected by the European plant also include the Audi Q7, Q8, Mercedes-Benz G-Class, BMW Z4, and Jaguar I-Pace.
It is worth mentioning that, according to a report by British media Autocar, the resources of the health service are under great pressure due to the impact of the epidemic, and automakers may be asked by the British government to temporarily switch to the production of respirators required by the NHS (the UK's National Health System). Honda Motor said, "The government has approached us regarding the feasibility of supporting the production of respirators."
No shutdowns in U.S.
Unlike Europe, where auto production has basically come to a standstill, most U.S. automakers have not announced any shutdowns. Some are even continuing production at the risk of violating shutdown orders.
According to Reuters on March 17 (EST), Tesla's SuperWorks in Fremont, U.S., is scheduled to continue its production operations on the same day. The day before, the factory is located in the San Francisco Bay Area declared a state of emergency, will be "closed" for three weeks, requiring all residents of San Francisco to stay at home, only to continue to open the necessary government functions and stores.
"If you feel the slightest symptoms of illness or discomfort, you may stay home." According to Reuters, Tesla CEO Elon?Musk had sent an email to employees on March 16 EST stating that no Tesla employees have been identified as having tested positive for the nucleic acid of the COVID-19 virus.
Besides Tesla, GM, Ford and FCA are also maintaining normal operations. Executives at each company said the outbreak has not affected operations, and the United?Automotive?Workers (UAW) does not support a shutdown.
According to media reports, the UAW announced the formation of a task force on March 15 (EST) to protect GM, Ford and FCA employees and production tasks. According to a joint statement, the task force will enhance screening of visitors, increase cleaning and sanitizing of public **** areas and touch points, and other measures in the future.
Not all UAW members, however, are in favor of normal operations at the depot in the event of an outbreak.
According to WAVE?3?NEWS, Todd Dunn, a Ford plant employee and president of UAW Local 862, has called for his plant to be shut down for at least two weeks to protect its employees, saying, "Ford hasn't had any confirmed cases of the disease reported from any of its plants yet, but virtually the entire state of Kentucky is in a state of extreme shortage of testing reagents. shortage of testing reagents, and shutting down the plant is a necessary precaution."
While U.S.-based automakers are still holding on to production, the impact is expected to be inevitable. Analysts at Morgan Stanley issued a report saying the outbreak will cause U.S. auto sales to fall 9 percent this year. Research firm LMC?Automotive cut its U.S. auto sales forecast for 2020 by 300,000 units to 16.5 million, which would be the lowest level for the U.S. auto industry since 2014.
This article comes from the authors of Automotive House Car Family, and does not represent the viewpoint position of Automotive House.