While the Xin Guan epidemic has affected the domestic auto industry to a great extent, and even affected the overseas factories of some brands because of the shutdown of parts production, most car companies have still contributed generously to the fight against the epidemic with a considerable amount of donations and other assistance.
But neither donations of money nor cars can ease the primary conflict facing front-line medical workers and the general public, which is a severe shortage of protective materials such as masks and disinfectant.
And in this context, there are some car companies choose to find another way, directly fire run a side business, the organization of surplus productivity to the current shortage of materials in the manufacture.
"Cross-border experienced" Wuling
As early as February 6, Wuling has united with the upstream suppliers, ready to produce masks by way of altering the production line.
According to the project planner, the modification of the clean room required for production, as well as the construction of the production line, will be completed by the end of this month, by which time *** will have built 14 production lines for the masks, of which 4 are N95 specifications, and the remaining 10 are for the production line of the general medical protective masks, with a daily production capacity of 1.7 million units.
Of course, Wuling has a long history of developing side businesses. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s, Wuling's earliest predecessor, Liuzhou Power Machinery Factory, in response to the call of the country, had been renamed Liuzhou Tractor Factory, and successful trial production of tractors, with an annual output of 5,000 units, and even exported to overseas markets.
Toward the end of the seventies, in order to take the initiative to cope with the transformation of market demand, Wuling had switched to the production of multifunctional sewing machines and automatic cotton looms; and until the eighties, Wuling has successfully developed the first mini-vans with hand-held hammering and molding methods to achieve a zero-breakthrough micro-vehicle manufacturing industry, and thereafter for the Wuling's "God! "The first time I saw this, it was a very good idea for me to get a copy of it.
Guangzhou Automobile
Guangzhou Automobile in the "production of masks" on the matter of performance, can be said to be quite a thunderbolt. Just next door to the Wuling announced to build masks on February 6, Guangzhou Automobile Group party secretary and chairman Zeng Qinghong has led a line of executives straight to the mask production equipment manufacturers located in Dongguan; just one day later, Guangzhou Automobile Components and Technology Center has sent a number of employees to the front line to participate in a period of 15 days of study.
A few days later, on the morning of February 10, engineers from the GAC Components Technology Center successfully assembled the first mask production equipment; in the afternoon of February 11, the first GAC mask production equipment arrived at the GAC Components Technology Center to be installed and debugged; it is expected that on February 22, GAC will complete the production of 12 units of equipment, and this number will increase to 30 units by the end of this month.
"All-powerful" BYD
Also one of the first car companies to respond to the call, BYD has entrusted the ninth division of its electronics business group with the task of "building masks. According to relevant information, the ninth division was established as early as 2006, previously mainly engaged in cell phones, tablet computers and automotive electronic components and other products OEM and R & D manufacturing.
And more convincing is that the ninth division actually has a medical device system certification, and long-term agent production of medical equipment products. According to BYD's official announcement of the planning, will achieve "3 days out of the drawings, 7 days out of the equipment, 10 days out of the product", masks and disinfectant is expected to be around February 17 to achieve mass production shipments.
And by the end of this month, the daily production capacity of masks and disinfectant will reach about 5 million and 50,000 bottles, respectively. Although the target production is quite impressive, the supplies will not be sold to individual consumers for the time being, but will be prioritized for deployment by the government and hospitals.
The development of side businesses by car companies seems to be a new thing in the domestic market, but if you look around the world, many brands have already been playing a lively cross-border game.
Touching Rolls-Royce
For ordinary people, not to mention buying a Rolls-Royce, even if they can sit on a big one, it's a rare thing. But in fact, if you really want to get close to a Rolls-Royce, there is a relatively low-cost way to do it: by airplane.
When Rolls-Royce was first established, the brand operated two major businesses under its umbrella, namely car-making and aero-engine making. It was only later that the two divisions were separated after the British government intervened because of operational problems, but they still ****ed the brand and the name.
But compared with the Rolls-Royce brand, which has been a thriving presence in the automotive world, Rolls-Royce Aero Engines has had a less comfortable time, and the fierce competition with its old rival, General Electric GE, has been going on for a long time.
Just the other day, Rolls-Royce announced that it is developing a new generation of "Ultrafan" aircraft, which will be called "Ultrafan". "Ultrafan" engine. Thanks to the 3.55-meter diameter fan and the use of a large number of new composite materials, the new Ultrafan's structural weight will be further reduced, and fuel consumption will be reduced by 25% compared to the first-generation Raider airframe. If all goes well, then the largest sized aero-engine in the history of mankind will be a candidate for the A350neo.
Lastly, we still have to give a tip, even if the next encounter with the use of RR aircraft, pull out the phone to take a picture on the line, do not want to be unable to throw coins into the ......
Making a car is just a vote of interest for Mitsubishi
Other automobile companies are playing a sideline, but in the eyes of the Mitsubishi, making a car is probably considered a sideline.
Because the entire Mitsubishi group includes the car-making Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, the production of passenger and freight vehicles and their engines Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Co., the manufacture of stationery Mitsubishi Pencil Co.
Besides playing in the real economy, the Mitsubishi Group also has Mitsubishi Corporation Ltd. engaged in financial trading, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
To take a very shallow example, in fiscal year 2018, Mitsubishi Motors' global net sales amounted to 251.46 billion yen, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' total sales in the same period amounted to 2.9 trillion yen, with the latter surprisingly being ten times more than the former. Regardless of the Mitsubishi Motors sales in the entire Mitsubishi Group's share, just in front of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, that are absolutely younger brother-like existence.
As for why the volume of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will be so huge, the answer is also very simple, after all, they are Japan's largest arms supplier, simply summarized down to the warplanes, artillery, warships, submarines, tanks, helicopters, and what have you.
And Mitsubishi Heavy Industries also has a huge amount of civil orders, not only at the same time OEM Boeing and Airbus, but also has its own MRJ regional airliner, plus the airport fast, light rail transportation and other full set of transportation solutions.
Just the other day, too, Mitsubishi's plant held a short little ceremony to commemorate its own 1,000th delivery of a 787 airliner wing to Boeing.
Honda's research to the end
Honda, whose full name is actually Honda Techno Research Industries Co. The company's business is not as extensive as Mitsubishi's, but it is in line with the impression Honda has always left on consumers.
For example, in addition to the familiar automobiles and motorcycles, Honda's business in other dimensions is also involved in airplanes, generators, gasoline engines, water pumps, lawnmowers, brushcutters, microtillers (which resemble tractors), small boat engines, as well as exoskeletons similar to the Honda Walking Aid, the UNI-CUB balance car and so on.
Without going into too many conventional examples, let's look at the hardcore ones. In mid-2019, Honda released a ............ mower called the Mean?Mower?V2. Thanks to the CBR1000RR?Fireblade motorcycle four-cylinder engine, this lawn mower has a maximum power of 200 horsepower, 13,000rpm ultra-high revolutions, 100 kilometers of acceleration in just 6.29 seconds, and the top speed is 241kph.
As the saying goes, all the way to the sparks with the lightning, and wherever you go there is not an inch of grass, that is probably what is said about the Mean? Mower?V2.
Relatively focused Toyota
Compared to Mitsubishi, which has a huge spread, Toyota, the real hegemon of the automotive industry, is relatively focused, but out of automobiles, it also still develops a small portion of its side business.
As early as 1997, Toyota cooperated with the development of a yacht called "Toyota?Marine". Of course, in 2017 Lexus unveiled an even more luxurious luxury yacht that completely trumped its predecessor.
On top of Mitsubishi's airplane-building credentials, Toyota also brought out its own concept airplane, the TAA-1, in 2002.
Toyota also runs universities, including the Toyota Technical Institute, which was founded in 1981, and the Chicago campus, which was established in 2003. Elsewhere, Toyota has dabbled in robotics programs, as well as investing in several startups in biotechnology.
But the most surprising product was a sewing machine called the "Oekaki?Renaissance," a real Toyota product.
Hyundai at the tip of the iceberg
South Korea's Hyundai is similar to Mitsubishi in that it's part of the Hyundai conglomerate, which in addition to Hyundai Motor Co. also owns the vaunted Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Asan, Hyundai Construction, Hyundai Unicorn and Hyundai Department Stores.
About the volume of the whole Hyundai Zaibatsu, in fact, no need to say more, as we all know that South Korea's economic lifeline basically relies on Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG and Lotte, the five big Zaibatsu in the support, and there is a legend of South Korean people's life, old age and sickness, death, almost can not be separated from the five big Zaibatsu, which is a huge amount of its volume.
And specific to the modern zaibatsu, the business scope is more concentrated in the infrastructure and heavy industry. In particular, Hyundai Heavy Industries, which has seven divisions under its ****, is also the world's largest shipbuilding company.
Tesla's commitment to energy
When it comes to Tesla's sideline business, some people probably reflexively think of SPACEX, which leads to the conclusion that "building rockets is a sideline business for Tesla". But the reality is that although both companies are owned by Elon Musk, they are simply two companies with no further connection to each other, so this conclusion is not valid.
But as far as the Tesla brand is concerned, in addition to producing and selling new energy vehicles, it does run its own side business, which is an energy business.
These include solar panels for individual users, the Powerwall for energy storage, and solar panels and the corresponding Powerpack industrial battery pack for commercial use.
As sci-fi as it sounds, Tesla's energy segment has already helped Musk score a lot of money. In addition to its operations on U.S. soil, it has installed a large solar power plant and batteries on the Hawaiian island of Kauai; built solar power packs in Australia; rebuilt the power grid in Puerto Rico, and brought 700 solar panels to the local Nino Hospital to help provide the electricity needed to care for 3,000 patients 24 hours a day.
AL Summary
So looking at the history of Chinese and foreign countries, we can see that the development of car companies "side business" is nothing new, and even the main business of some brands may not be in the construction of cars. But in the face of this epidemic, Wuling, Guangzhou Automobile, BYD's rapid response, in a short period of time from zero to build their own production line of protective materials, or worthy of praise and learning the whole industry.
This article comes from the author of the automobile home car family number, does not represent the views of the automobile home position.