Factories in 11 Chinese provinces (Hubei, Shanghai, Guangdong, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Yunnan, Fujian, Jiangxi and Shandong) account for two-thirds of China's auto production, and are expected to lose 7 percent of their capacity, or 350,000 units, in the first quarter if they start up after Feb. 10, according to a report released by HIS?Markit. If the outbreak isn't under control by mid-March, factories in other provinces will also shut down, which, combined with shutdowns due to parts shortages, would bring the first-quarter capacity loss to more than 1.7 million units.
At the time of the epidemic, a number of special-purpose vehicle enterprises have started work ahead of schedule, scrambling to produce negative-pressure ambulances to support Wuhan. But by the impact of the expansion of the epidemic, a number of vehicle enterprises have postponed the resumption of work and production plans. In the blink of an eye is already February 11th, postponed for seven days after the February 10th, SAIC Volkswagen, Azure, Xiaopeng and Tesla and other passenger car enterprises have begun to resume work and production.
Resumption of work, not production, according to local conditions
The car companies in Hubei province, due to the epidemic is too serious, China's 25 automobile-producing provinces and municipalities, except Xinjiang, have issued notices of delayed resumption of work for the whole province or part of the city. According to the announcement, most provinces and cities stipulate that the resumption of work should not be earlier than February 10th. As the epidemic-hit Hubei Province, the requirements of the non-mandatory industry resumption of work time shall not be earlier than February 14th. The specific start time of the car companies will also be adjusted with the epidemic situation.
The headquarters of Xiaopeng Automobile, located in Guangzhou, is now in normal office. All park/office entrances and exits of Xiaopeng Automobile are set up to test and disinfect, and for employees going to work in the office, they need to wear masks and cooperate with the security personnel to conduct a temperature test when they enter the office. From the Peng automobile official was informed that, for employees who need to return to work normally, it has set up a number of additional Peng G3 for employees to use, and encourage employees to use independent self-driving mode of transportation, reducing the contact with the external public **** traffic, reducing the chances of infection.
But the vehicle plant in Zhengzhou has not yet been informed whether production has resumed. The SAIC plant and Dongfeng Nissan's Zhengzhou plant, also in Zhengzhou, have been postponed until after the 20th.
Likewise, Tesla, which temporarily shut down its Shanghai gigafactory on Jan. 30 due to the outbreak, has also resumed production, with Tesla employees riding in single-seat commuter buses (one person in a row), and wearing face masks and accepting temperature tests when entering and exiting the factory.
While the factory has resumed work, close to half of the parking spaces in the parking lot are still vacant. Tesla has been told that, except for essential positions, clerical workers are currently working from home.
Additionally, only SAIC-Volkswagen's Shanghai plant resumed work on Feb. 10, but other factories in the field had to wait until the 17th. Guangzhou Automotive New Energy and Guangzhou Automotive Mitsubishi and other car companies on February 10 resumption of work is not resumption of production, of which the Guangzhou Automotive Mitsubishi plant resumption of production no earlier than 17 days. Like Geely Automobile and BMW Brilliance and other companies that have not resumed work, but also start non-production units working at home, the factory resumption of production is further delayed until the 17th.
Resumption of work is not easy, resumption of production is difficult
Why do car companies have to top so much pressure also to resume production? Generally speaking, automobile OEMs generally have inventory, short-term shutdown, and will not have a greater impact on the end supply. But if the time is too long, it may bring huge economic losses. A greater impact on the operation from the supplier, to the end dealers, resulting in damage to the entire chain.
The better-form car companies like Tesla, which had no inventory or less inventory, can ease the pressure of supply and demand by starting work early. There are also reports that Beijing Benz will lose as much as 400 million yuan in a single day if it fails to resume production on February 10th. In addition, in terms of the labor-intensive industry itself, such as car companies, tens of thousands of people have to be paid. That's a huge expense that the vast majority of companies can't afford in the long run.
Accessories supply, not optimistic
Resumption of production is not only the response within the car system, but also need to actively cooperate with upstream and downstream suppliers, in the situation is grim under the circumstances, it is a test of the ability of the car company's resource integration.
In Hubei, for example, in addition to the Dongfeng Group's vehicle enterprises and production plants, but also gathered Delphi, Valeo, Honeywell, Visteon, Wanxiang and other automotive parts and components enterprises more than 1,100, covering gearboxes, chassis, bodywork, electronics, interior decoration, glass, etc..
The whole body moves in one hair, and recently, South Korean media reported that most of Hyundai's factories in South Korea suspended production on the 7th, and Kia Motors stopped work from the 10th, due to the impact of China's parts production. When the South Korean car companies restart production depends on the resumption of work in China's automotive wiring harness factory time.
Writing in the end
Restarting work is not easy, and resuming production is difficult. In the face of the epidemic crisis that has not been lifted, for such labor-intensive industries as the automotive industry, how to ensure the safety and health of employees after they arrive at work is still a considerable challenge. If the epidemic prevention and control measures are not in place, it will not only affect the production of enterprises, but also bring harm to the life and health of employees.
This article comes from the author of the automobile home car family number, does not represent the views of the automobile home position.