Since the beginning of this year, the automotive industry has faced multiple pressures. First of all, the shortage of chips, the rise in battery costs, and the rise in key components have triggered an increase in the price of new energy vehicles; then there is the impact of "supply chain supply cuts", and car companies such as Weilai, Tanks, and Dongfeng Nissan have announced production suspensions, but this is far from all. The Hongqi brand, which has been releasing monthly sales in a high profile, has not yet been officially announced in March.
Recently, He Xiaopeng, the founder of Xiaopeng Automobile, said, "If the supply chain enterprises in Shanghai and the surrounding areas cannot find a way to dynamically resume work and production, all Chinese automakers may have to stop work and production in May." Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer business and CEO of smart car BU, also commented that "it is true."
The most direct response to the crisis caused by the supply chain is the decline in sales. According to the latest sales data of the Association, retail sales in March were 1.579 million units, down 10.5% year-on-year; the cumulative retail sales in the first quarter were 4.915 million units, down 4.5% year-on-year, a year-on-year decrease of 230,000 units, the overall trend was lower than expected, and the year-on-year decline was the most direct market feedback.
The automotive industry has been affected by the epidemic and caused by the supply chain supply cut-off, and the suspension of production and work may be beyond expectations. According to statistics, due to the outbreak of the epidemic in many places, partner suppliers can not supply, FAW-Volkswagen, Weilai, Great Wall Tank, Tesla, Dongfeng Nissan and other car companies stopped production.
The wind and rain are coming, the automotive industry is under double pressure, and it is in urgent need of breaking the situation. April 17 ushered in a turnaround, and at the same time delivered several good news, all related to the resumption of work and production in the automotive industry. The first Jilin automotive industry resumed work and production; the second Shanghai integrated circuit, automobile manufacturing and other industries resumed work and production; the third is the gradual resumption of work of Weilai Automobile; the fourth is that SAIC will start the resumption of work and production stress test on April 18, that is, tomorrow.
On April 16, it was learned from the 37th press conference of Jilin Province that the automobile industry is an important pillar industry in Jilin Province, and it is of great significance to take the lead in resuming work and production. Hongqi Ulsan factory has taken the lead in resuming work and production, 47 first batch suppliers have also resumed production at the same time, and other OEMs have prepared to resume work in advance and will resume production in an orderly manner in batches.
On April 17, faw group's five main engine plants all resumed work, with a total of 7438 people returning to work, FAW Hongqi Ulsan plant, FAW-Volkswagen, FAW Fengyue achieved vehicle off-line, FAW Besturn and FAW Jiefang completed production line debugging and started production today; 25117 people from 276 parts suppliers returned to work.
On April 16, the Shanghai Economic and Information Commission issued the "Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of the Epidemic in Shanghai Industrial Enterprises Resuming Work and Production (First Edition)". Actively support enterprises to resume work and production, ensure that risks are controllable, implement closed-loop management, effectively promote the resumption of work and production of enterprises in an orderly and effective manner, and ensure the safety and stability of the industrial chain supply chain.
Forward Working Group of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Concentrate resources to give priority to ensuring the resumption of work and production of 666 key enterprises in key industries such as integrated circuits, automobile manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, and biomedicine.
SAIC Motor said that according to the guidelines for the prevention and control of the epidemic situation, the stress test of resuming work and production will be launched on April 18; Tesla and CATL said that their respective factories in Shanghai will be implemented in accordance with Shanghai's epidemic prevention policies.
On April 9, NIO announced the suspension of vehicle production, but after five days of announcing the suspension of production, since April 15, the supply chain has recovered slightly, and the Hefei production base is gradually resuming production, but the follow-up production plan depends on the recovery of the supply chain.
With the efforts of all parties, the supply chain of the automotive industry is restoring production order in an orderly manner to ensure the supply of automobile manufacturing, although there are still many constraints in management, but it is better than the state of direct shutdown. Relatively most car companies are affected by the supply chain, but a few are not affected. For example, BED has a highly vertical supply chain, many core components are produced and supplied by themselves, and the current impact of the epidemic is relatively small.
After this supply chain supply crisis, the automotive industry supply chain will reflect or change again. Suppliers should be diversified, try not to have a single supply channel, and reserve a backup resource option. In the past, the automotive supply chain was a centralized layout, and once it was affected, it was a cascading effect, so decentralization was imperative. The deep binding between car companies and parts companies may become a trend.