The impact of the epidemic on China's automotive production supply chain is gradually emerging. Following WEIO's announcement on April 9 that vehicle production was suspended due to supply chain disruptions, Xiaopeng Automobile CEO He Xiaopeng also warned through social media on the evening of April 14 that if the supply chain in Shanghai and the surrounding areas is not improved, all Chinese automakers may have to stop work and production in May. This statement was also endorsed by Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's intelligent car solution BU.
1 Weilai and tank 300 are suspended production
On the evening of April 14, He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, posted on Weibo, "If supply chain companies in Shanghai and the surrounding areas cannot find a way to dynamically resume work and production, all Chinese OEMs may have to stop work and production in May." ”
He Xiaopeng also said, "The good news is that some ministries and authorities are currently doing their best to coordinate, and expect more governments and competent departments to support and work together." ”
Yu Chengdong said that since mid-April, some enterprises have begun to cut off supply chains and stop production due to the epidemic in Shanghai and other places, so if it continues, the industrial economic losses and costs will be very large.
In fact, before He Xiaopeng and Yu Chengdong expressed their concerns, Weilai Automobile had suspended production due to supply chain disruptions. On April 9, WEILAI Automobile issued an announcement that since March, due to the epidemic, the company's supply chain partners in Jilin, Shanghai, Jiangsu and other places have stopped production one after another, and have not yet resumed, so WEILAI vehicle production has to be suspended.
Li Bin, CEO of Weilai Automobile, said that due to the impact of the epidemic in Changchun and Hebei, some parts of Weilai were cut off in mid-March, relying on some parts inventory to barely support until last week. Recently, there have been epidemics in Shanghai and Jiangsu, and many partners cannot supply goods and can only suspend production.
As Li Bin said, this situation is not encountered by Weilai Automobile, and many manufacturers have been affected. Recently, the tank brand officially announced that it will suspend the production of its tank 300 models from April 14, and the specific resumption of production date is expected to be set.
The official explanation of the tank brand is that due to the impact of the epidemic in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Jilin and other places, the tank 300 model involves a total of 8 supplier partners to stop work and stop operation.
The latest news is that the supply chain of Weilai Automobile has recovered slightly, and the Hefei production base is gradually resuming production, but Weilai Automobile said that the follow-up production plan also depends on the recovery of the supply chain.
2 The Yangtze River Delta automotive supply chain is in a hurry
This round of auto supply chain problems stems from the outbreak of the epidemic in many parts of the country, especially the continuation of the epidemic in Shanghai, which not only affects the production of Shanghai car companies, but also greatly affects the production and logistics of the Yangtze River Delta, an important base for China's auto parts.
Since late March, the epidemic in Shanghai has affected a number of vehicle factories in Shanghai, such as SAIC's factory and Tesla's Shanghai plant. In the face of epidemic control, some enterprises choose to carry out "closed-loop production" and carry out closed-loop management of employees in the factory or enterprise, but the factory can only maintain a low production capacity level, and due to the greater pressure on logistics, the material entry and product output required by the factory will face challenges. Tesla has been temporarily suspended for more than half a month since late March, and production has not yet resumed.
Although "guaranteed production" is the rhythm that each OEM wants to strive to maintain, it will also be constrained by the shortage of upstream supply chains. Around the many car companies in Shanghai, there are many parts suppliers from all over the world. This round of Shanghai epidemic is reported to have affected the production planning of many auto parts suppliers: for example, ZF's factory in Puxi is in closed production, but the logistics is not smooth, resulting in transportation interruptions; Bosch's auto parts factories in Shanghai and Taicang City are currently using a "closed-loop system" to maintain operations; Aptiv, the world's leading automotive connector supplier located in Shanghai Anting Auto City, also said that at present, in inter-provincial logistics, there is an inconvenience caused by epidemic control, because of the problem of passes, some vehicles can not enter Shanghai. The products produced at the factory cannot be shipped out; a supplier of automotive wiring harnesses and electronic appliances in Pudong, Shanghai, also revealed that it will face production in the long run due to logistics obstructions.
In addition to Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui are also the traditional car enterprises and important parts production bases, in recent years, there have also gathered a lot of new car-making forces, many domestic parts and components companies are distributed in the Yangtze River Delta region. The Yangtze River Delta is fully equipped with parts, and there is a saying in the industry that almost all the parts of a car are covered here.
However, in addition to the epidemic control in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Jiaxing around Shanghai have also spread the epidemic, and many places have temporarily closed some highway toll stations due to the needs of epidemic prevention and control, and goods and truck drivers are trapped on the highway. This makes automakers and parts companies face logistics difficulties.
According to media reports, in the Waigaoqiao area of Pudong New Area in Shanghai, a collection truck with Shanghai E, Shanghai F, and Su E license plates on gangjian road, Shendong Road and other roads is parked on the side of the road, and many drivers are sleeping in the car or anxiously making telephone contacts. The detention of truck drivers has become a microcosm of logistics obstruction under the epidemic.
A car company insider said that although some car companies still have spare parts inventory, it is estimated that it can only support 1-2 weeks. If the supply chain problem cannot be improved as soon as possible, there will indeed be many car companies that will stop production in the future.