Finance.com Automotive News? In order to help prevent the spread of the new crown pneumonia, a number of U.S. car companies are considering switching to the production of respirators and other medical equipment.
Local time on March 22, Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk (Elon?Mask) said in a post on the social networking site that he had just had a lengthy discussion with Medtronic on the production of state-of-the-art ventilators.
Later in the day, Trump said in a post on the social networking site that Ford, General Motors and Tesla were authorized to make respirators and other metal products.
On March 19, Musk had posted that "if there is a shortage, we will make respirators." He said that Tesla can produce cars with advanced HVAC systems and SpaceX can produce spacecraft with life-support systems, and that it wouldn't be difficult to produce respirators, just not immediately.
General Motors and Ford Motor discussed with White House officials on March 18 how to switch production of medical equipment, such as ventilators, in response to the outbreak, Reuters reported.
A spokesman for GM said the company was already looking at ways to produce respirators in an effort to help the United States during a difficult time. Ford Motor said it would help the government as much as possible, including by producing ventilators and other equipment, and that the company has had preliminary discussions with the U.S. government about the feasibility of the program.
Meanwhile, a number of European car companies have also joined in switching to the production of respirators and other medical equipment.
According to The?Guardian, on March 15, the British government called on carmakers in the U.K. to switch to the production of medical equipment, including ventilators. Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, Vauxhall & McLaren then responded by offering to help.
Italian carmakers Ferrari and FCA Group said on 19 December that they were in talks with the country's largest respirator maker to help boost production of respirators.
During the epidemic, Chinese car companies such as BYD, SAIC-GM-Wuling and GAC Group took the lead in switching to the production of masks, disinfectants and other medical supplies to support the fight against the epidemic.
On Feb. 6, SAIC-GM-Wuling announced that it would work with its suppliers to switch to producing masks by remodeling its production line, with daily output expected to reach more than 1.7 million. As of early March, its daily production capacity of masks has reached 2 million. In addition, Wuling-produced mask machines and intelligent mobile temperature measurement vehicles have also been put into production.
On February 8, BYD announced that it would aid in the production of masks, disinfectant solutions and other medical supplies, and on the 17th of that month, it realized the mass production of masks off the production line. on March 12, the company announced that its daily production capacity of masks could reach 5 million, and its daily production capacity of disinfectant gels reached 300,000 bottles. Meanwhile, its daily capacity of masks is growing at a rate of 300,000 to 500,000 per day.
GAC said on March 16 that its daily production capacity of masks reached 600,000, and its cumulative production has reached nearly 10 million.
In addition to building new production lines and helping to produce medical supplies, a number of car companies around the world have announced short-term shutdowns or production cuts since March to prevent the epidemic from spreading further.
On March 16, PSA Group and FCA Group both announced that most of the company's plants in Europe would be temporarily shut down for two weeks; Renault said it would temporarily close its 12 plants in France until further notice.
On March 17, Volkswagen Group CEO Dies said the company's plants in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Slovakia would be shut down by the end of the week, and that most of its other plants in Europe would be prepared to shut down for two weeks. In addition, the group said it would adopt a series of programs to prevent the spread of the virus, including shutting down company service facilities, telecommuting and banning business travel.
On March 18, GM, Ford, and FCA, three automakers agreed to a request from the United Auto Workers (UAW) to suspend production work at all North American plants through at least the end of March. The three automakers also said they would continue to work with the UAW to develop a return-to-work plan and precautionary measures to protect the health and safety of workers. On the same day, Honda, Nissan and Toyota also announced plans to temporarily close their North American plants.
BMW Group said on the 18th that its plants in Europe and in one in South Africa will be closed from that day, with shutdowns planned tentatively until April 19th.
On March 19, Tesla announced that starting March 24, the company would temporarily shut down its Fremont, California, car manufacturing plant and suspend most operations at its Buffalo, New York, solar cell factory.
RBC?Capital?Markets forecasts that global auto production could fall 16 percent in 2020 due to the epidemic, according to a CNBC report.
According to Xinhua, the World Health Organization's daily outbreak report showed that as of 23:59 CET on the 21st (06:59 GMT on the 22nd), the number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia outside of China increased by 25,987 from the previous day to 210,644, and the number of deaths outside of China increased by 1,594 from the previous day to 9,517.
This article comes from the authors of Motor Home Car Family, and does not represent the viewpoint position of Motor Home.