When car companies resume work and resume production: parts supply is recovering, auto sales are expected to drop significantly this month

Surging journalist Cui Zhuzhu

Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, car companies that have postponed resumption of work and resumed production are and are about to usher in the second and third waves of resumption of work.

On February 21, the surging news reporter learned from the China Automobile Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as "the China Automobile Association") that the China Automobile Industry Coordination Research found that the auto industry's resumption rate as of February 18 had exceeded 75%.

Car companies welcome the tide of resumption of work

On February 17, car companies ushered in another wave of resumption of work. GAC Group's production line officially started. GAC Honda, GAC Toyota, GAC Passenger Cars, GAC New Energy, and GAC Fick's Guangzhou plants officially resumed production. Most of the BMW Group's offices in China have been reopened. The car production plant and an engine production plant have also gradually resumed production; Toyota ’s four plants in China, two vehicle plants in Changchun and Guangzhou also officially started on February 17, and the plant in Tianjin on February 18 Japan restarted; Nissan Motor, Honda Motor, and Mazda Motor also resumed production in some factories in China.

On February 24, auto companies will once again usher in a wave of resumption of work. Toyota announced that it will resume production at the Chengdu plant on the same day. SAIC Volkswagen told the surging news reporter that Anting, Yizheng, and Changsha plants officially resumed work on February 24. Other production bases have begun preparations for resuming work, and SAIC-GM will resume work on February 24.

In order to ensure the safety of employees after resuming work, telecommuting, temperature detection, one-person, one-table college entrance examination dining, mask distribution, and detailed resumption guidelines have become standard for most car companies.

The surging news reporter learned from the BMW Group that after the outbreak, BMW quickly decided to arrange employees to work remotely, formulated travel guides for business trips, and introduced personal health guidance. They also coordinated the rapid deployment of resources and the purchase of workplace protection and disinfection materials. BMW's protective measures include the distribution of two masks per day for each on-site office employee, and the "safety booth" at the entrance of the BMW office building is always on the job to measure the temperature of the employee and perform disinfection services.

On February 10, a large number of auto companies resumed production after full epidemic prevention measures, including SAIC, BAIC, GAC Group headquarters, Tesla Shanghai Super Factory, Weilai Automobile, Geely Automobile, Great Wall Motor, Changan Automobile and Xiaopeng Automobile.

In fact, SAIC Chase, Yutong Bus, Jiangling Motors and other car manufacturers that produce negative pressure ambulances and ambulances have resumed production as early as the Spring Festival and continue to deliver ambulances to areas in need.

While car companies are returning to work in an orderly manner and doing a good job in the main business, many car companies also ensure the supply of medical supplies through conversion and other methods. BYD, GAC Group, and Changan Automobile have announced the production of masks and disinfection water. Among them, GAC Group started mass production of masks on February 20th, and it is estimated that by the end of February, one million masks can be produced per day. BYD estimates that the production capacity of masks will reach 5 million pcs / day by the end of this month, and the production capacity of disinfectant will be 50,000 bottles / day.

The resumption of production and production of car companies is in an orderly manner, and the full recovery of production lines will take time. As of February 12, 59 of the 183 vehicle manufacturing bases coordinated by the China Automotive Industry Corporation have resumed production and resumed production, accounting for 32.2%. The surging news reporter also learned from SAIC that the production capacity of the resumption plant has not been fully restored. At present, the resumption of the plant is single-shift production, and usually three-shift production.

Hubei's auto companies in the frontline of the epidemic are facing greater challenges to resume work and resume production, and the time to resume work has been repeatedly extended. Recently, Hubei Province's new coronavirus infection and pneumonia epidemic prevention and control headquarters issued a notice saying that various enterprises in the province should resume work before no later than 24 o'clock on March 10. Shenlong Automobile, located in Hubei Province, announced that the official resumption of work will not be earlier than 24:00 on March 10, and the specific time will be notified separately according to the epidemic situation and relevant government requirements.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Hubei Province, as a major automobile and industrial manufacturing province in China, produced 2.24 million vehicles in 2019, accounting for 8.8% of the country's total automobile production. In addition, well-known automotive suppliers Webast, Bosch, Valeo, Faurecia, etc. all have factories in Wuhan, and Hubei Xiangyang, Yichang, Huanggang and other provinces and cities also have a large number of parts and components companies.

Auto parts supply gradually recovers

Due to the shortage of parts from China, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia Motors and other car companies' domestic factories have also been affected and have to temporarily suspend production. Hyundai Motor's South Korean factory stopped production again after a day of resumption on February 17. Jaguar Land Rover also released zero. Early warning of parts inventory, said that spare parts are only enough for two weeks.

With regard to the resumption of auto parts and components production, surging journalists learned from Bridgestone, a well-known tire manufacturer, that the Bridgestone plant in Wuxi has resumed work on February 11, and the plants in Shenyang and Huizhou have also resumed production on 2 February. Resumption of work on May 17th. The factory in Tianjin is currently undergoing internal assessment and is about to resume work. Bridgestone said that the company regards the safety and health of its employees and business stakeholders as its top priority. China's personnel and operations have not been significantly affected. The company will closely monitor developments and take necessary countermeasures. In terms of the raw material supply chain, Bridgestone has not suffered a significant impact at present; however, the company will continue to pay close attention and take necessary measures in accordance with actual needs.

Auto supplier Schaeffler told surging journalists that in order to ensure the safety of employees, the company formulated a delayed start-up policy in time, and the plant in China is currently in production shutdown. The company has performed inventory analysis and forecast in time, actively communicated closely with customers at home and abroad, and began to deploy production material reserves during the Spring Festival, and maintained close communication with suppliers to ensure the supply of raw materials and parts; at the same time, Contact the supplier for information, conduct a risk assessment of the supplier, and manage the company's cash flow, and strive to minimize the impact of the epidemic on business operations.

The Webster public account issued a statement saying that as of February 19, except for the two factories in Hubei, the Chinese factories had begun construction, and the German headquarters had resumed work on February 11. There is currently no impact on the supply chain. The company is also working with customers to optimize the supply chain so that production is not affected.

Another two local Chinese parts suppliers told the surging news reporter that the factory has now resumed production, but the production capacity is not full, the worker turnover rate is low, and the supply of raw materials required for production cannot keep up. Reasons for capacity. Both expect that it will take two months for the parts and components companies to fully return to normal.

Car sales fell sharply in the first half of February

According to the data of the Federation of Passenger Unions, due to the impact of the Spring Festival holiday and the new crown pneumonia epidemic, in the first half of February 2020 (February 1-16), domestic passenger car manufacturers ’retail sales were 2,249 units, compared with 29,090 units in the same period last year. , A year-on-year drop of 92%, a record high.

The Association of Vehicle Industry Associations believes that auto manufacturers' sales in February will be significantly lower than expected, and sales are expected to fall by about 70% year-on-year. Cumulative sales from January to February are expected to fall by nearly 40% year-on-year.

Behind the plunge in sales is the difficulty of car dealers starting and the dilemma of buying cars offline. On February 20, the China Automobile Dealers Association released a survey of a total of 4,761 4S stores in 73 automobile dealership groups. The employee return rate was 29.2%, and the comprehensive return rate was only 12.67%.

The surging news reporter also visited some auto cities in Shanghai and found that many auto dealers have not yet opened their stores. Even if they opened, almost no customers watched the car. The heads of the Auto City in the third and fourth tier cities of Shandong and Guizhou also told surging news reporters that non-opening of car sales stores is a common phenomenon in the industry, and the Auto City Industrial Park where they are located is still closed until it is started.

Also because offline sales were affected, many car companies switched to online live car sales. SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Prime Minister Yu Jingmin once live broadcasted the car online on February 14th, leaving a record of 500,000 people watching online.

It is still unknown how effective online sales are. However, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Federation of Trade Unions, said that online sales should not be the focus of the 4S transformation. The Internet should be developed moderately, and it should not be developed as a main business.

Relevant national departments are actively promulgating policies to stimulate automobile consumption.

Foshan City, Guangdong Province issued a direct policy to encourage the first shot to encourage car consumption. On January 29, the official website of the Foshan Municipal Government issued the “Notice of the Foshan Municipal People's Government Office on Printing and Distributing Several Measures to Promote the Consumption Upgrade of the Auto Market in Foshan”, proposing to encourage the consumption of “National Six” standard-displacement vehicles and give consumers a single car purchase Subsidies range from 2000-5000 yuan. These car consumption incentive measures will be officially implemented on March 1.

On February 18, the Guangdong Provincial Government issued "Several Policies and Measures to Further Stabilize and Promote Employment in Guangdong Province". The policy proposed to promote conditional cities to introduce subsidies for scrapped and renewed old cars, and to encourage Guangzhou and Shenzhen to further relax car numbers and auctions. index.

At a regular online press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on February 20, Wang Bin, deputy director of the Department of Market Operations, stated that the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to introduce policies and measures to further stabilize automobile consumption and reduce the impact of the epidemic on automobile consumption.