Historical images are always replayed.
From World War II when Willys made Jeep, General Motors, Ford made airplanes, tanks, to today's SAIC-GM-Wuling, BYD made masks, Volkswagen, FCA, Jaguar and so on have joined the army of respirator manufacturing. It seems that every time a major crisis comes, the automotive industry is the most competent aid.
Data show that as of 16:00 on March 25, the new coronavirus caused more than 80,000 confirmed infections in the country, and more than 330,000 confirmed infections abroad, and the cumulative number of deaths due to the virus in the world is more than 18,000 people, and still continue to add.
From the beginning of the outbreak, automobile companies have been playing an active role in donating money and goods to support the front-line prevention of the epidemic, and even in the production of the most in short supply of medical supplies, which have made the whole society feel a strong sense of warmth, and also contributed to the country's "anti-epidemic" work.
Chinese car companies produce masks, overseas car companies make respirators
On February 6, SAIC-GM-Wuling announced that it would work with suppliers to convert production lines to produce masks, and that the phrase "what the people need, Wuling will make" has been praised by people.
February 8, Wuling self-produced the first batch of *** 200,000 "Wuling brand" civilian masks off the line. From the idea to the first batch of masks off the line, only 3 days, not only a vivid interpretation of the "Wuling speed", but also for the industry to bring excellent demonstration effect.
After that, BYD, Guangzhou Automobile, Changan Automobile and so on have said to join the masks, disinfectant production army, as of early March, the domestic automobile enterprises contributed to the mask daily production capacity has been as high as 8 million, in addition to a certain amount of disinfectant.
In the face of this major disaster, the spirit and sense of responsibility shown by Chinese car companies have amazed the world.
Inside?EVS, a well-known U.S. new-energy vehicle news site, lamented, "In less than two weeks, Chinese car companies completed work that would normally take two months to accomplish; completed the development and manufacturing process of the masking machines in seven days, whereas in the market it usually takes 15 to 30 days to make a complete masking machine; and at the same time, in six days completed the development of medical-grade disinfectant solutions, which were shipped to front-line medical personnel in just eight days."
So now, as the epidemic in Europe and the United States worsens dramatically, overseas car factories have naturally become the main object of governments' requests for assistance, with the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and so on, all beginning to negotiate with car companies to produce medical supplies.
Only, and domestic enterprises to produce masks are different, Europe and the United States is more concerned about the respirator. According to academician Zhong Nanshan, for the new crown pneumonia treatment, in the absence of specific drugs, the ventilator is one of the most effective therapies.
The United Kingdom was the first to call on car companies to switch to the production of respirators. Britain reportedly has 5,000 ventilators available for use, however if the number of confirmed cases continues to rise, it will soon run out. As of March 25, there have been over 8,000 confirmed cases in the UK. In the past week, the rate of increase in confirmed cases in the UK has been second only to the US and Germany.
In response, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on March 16 urged automakers such as Jaguar to act to produce as many respirators as possible.
As the country with the worst outbreak in Europe, Italy has the biggest shortage of respirators. Currently, Italy has only 3,000 ventilators, yet the number of patients has reached a whopping 70,000 (as of March 25th). The severe shortage of ventilators has forced Italy to face a cruel fact - considering the chances of survival, young people are prioritized for treatment, which is tantamount to announcing the "death" of the diagnosed elderly in advance.
On March 19, Italian carmakers Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler (FCA) said they had entered into talks with Siare Engineering, the largest local maker of ventilators, to help it increase production, and Siare said the government had asked the company to raise its monthly production of ventilators from 160 to 500 units.
The U.S., the country with the fastest jump in the epidemic, currently has 160,000 ventilators, with another 12,700 in strategic national supply. But because the U.S. has a federal system, there is a more pronounced problem of unequal distribution of supplies among the states. As a result, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, where the outbreak is most severe, has asked the federal government to nationalize the acquisition of medical supplies and unify their distribution.
New York is known to have a shortage of more than 20,000 ventilators. "Every state is buying ventilators, and we've sent people to China, the largest manufacturer of ventilators, to buy them." Cuomo said.
As of 9 a.m. March 25, the number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the U.S. had topped 50,000, with New York accounting for nearly half of those cases. Recently, Ford, General Motors and Tesla, among others, were "licensed" to manufacture respirators.
The German government is also requiring automakers to produce medical equipment such as masks and respirators. Volkswagen has formed a task force to look at how 3D printing can be used to help produce respirators and other life-saving equipment. Daimler has also said it is looking at options.
China's experience a guiding light in emergency situation
Besides making ventilators in their own factories, the multinationals are counting on Chinese companies to help in any way they can. That's because the outbreak in China has been effectively controlled, with factories resuming production in an orderly fashion.
The Volkswagen Group has identified a set of assistance programs for the German healthcare system, which includes using the resources of the Chinese market to assist Germany, purchasing up to 10 million euros' worth of medical equipment in China, and producing masks at its joint venture factories in China.
Fiat Chrysler also said it is producing the masks through its Chinese plant, which is expected to go into production in the next few weeks and will have a monthly capacity of 1 million. In the future, the masks will be donated mainly to emergency responders and medical organizations in the United States.
BYD said recently that it would not rule out the possibility of exporting the masks if there is demand from overseas countries on the basis of meeting domestic demand.
On March 19, Reuters reported, "The idea of British, American and Italian car companies switching to medical supplies began in China, where BYD (in one day) produced 5 million masks and 300,000 bottles of disinfectant." ?
Screenshot of Reuters report
In fact, in addition to producing medical supplies, the successful epidemic prevention experience of Chinese car companies has become an object of imitation for multinational companies.
On March 17, on the sidelines of the Volkswagen Group's 2020 annual online media conference, Dies, chairman of the Volkswagen Group's board of management, bluntly stated that the Volkswagen Group had copied China's anti-epidemic model to all of the group's companies.
"We now try to keep people as close to each other as possible, try to replace face-to-face meetings with teleconferencing/video conferencing; quarantine employees who have traveled to areas where the epidemic is severe; implement work-from-home practices to reduce office attendance, etc." ?
After reading about the epidemic prevention performance of Chinese car companies, Automotive News Europe reporter Nick ? Gibbs also posted a message lamenting, "The measures taken by Geely and other Chinese car companies to overcome the epidemic are worthy of good reference for European automakers." ?
The fact is, humanity is in the same boat when it comes to the new coronavirus. Conditions permitting, we welcome overseas car companies to copy as much of the Chinese experience as possible.
Car companies turn to the production of medical supplies, there is a natural advantage
While compared with the manufacture of masks, the manufacture of respiratory machines has a greater degree of difficulty, but it is not impossible. After all, the special period of automobile companies can even build airplanes and cannons.
As the crown jewel of modern industry, automobile manufacturing involves tens of thousands of parts and components, hundreds of supporting suppliers, from sheet metal processing to vehicle assembly, the need to use a variety of processing technologies and various types of mechanical molds, the complexity of its civil mechanical process in the right.
Compared with other manufacturing industries, the advantages of supply chain will make it easier for OEMs to integrate various suppliers together to assemble medical devices quickly and efficiently. This is also a direct result of the ability of SAIC-GM-Wuling, BYD and others to quickly realize the production of masks.
In addition, vehicle manufacturers also have ready-made plants, machine tools and basic manufacturing processes and equipment. In addition, human resources advantage is also conducive to car companies to improve production efficiency. At home, BYD has as many as more than 100,000 employees, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Guangzhou Automobile, Changan, etc. also have a large R & D and manufacturing team. Abroad, multinational groups such as Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford and FCA, not to mention.
And, car companies also tend to have deep technical reserves, such as electronic and pneumatic technology, on which the production of respiratory machines is very dependent, which can help car companies quickly realize the conversion of medical supplies.
Statistics show that as of March 22, the global total **** 14 multinational automotive group announced the closure of its factories, the total number of factories affected reached more than 100.
When the auto market fell to the "freezing point", the car production is difficult to continue, the switch to the production of masks, respirators and other much-needed medical supplies, it is not a good idea. After all, only the early end of the difficulties, enterprises can usher in the real spring.
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This article comes from the author of the automobile home car family number, does not represent the views of the automobile home position.