At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Tesla is still nowhere to be seen.
The scary thing is that the media and the audience seem to be unconcerned about Tesla's non-participation. One of the reasons is that compared with four years ago, in front of "117 world premiere models, 41 concept cars and 278 new energy models", plus Lei Jun, Zhou Hongyi and other CEOs are rushing to grab traffic, Tesla's light is slightly dimmed.
After "leaving" the auto show, Tesla does not seem to be having a good time, and negative news is coming one after another.
In April, for Tesla, it can be described as a "water reversal".
At the beginning of the month, Tesla announced its first-quarter sales data, with global deliveries of only 386,800 units, lower than the actual production, and sales fell by 8.5% year-on-year and 20.1% quarter-on-quarter, becoming the brand's first quarterly delivery decline in nearly four years.
Two weeks later, Tesla CEO Elon Musk issued an internal letter saying that he would lay off 10% of its workforce worldwide. Although this is not Tesla's first global layoff, the scale and scope of personnel involved are "unprecedented".
It is worth mentioning that while Tesla is laying off employees around the world, it not only swings the "butcher knife" to core departments such as final assembly, welding, and batteries, but also cancels a large number of offers to welcome graduates.
In this regard, a graduate said: "The company unilaterally breached the contract before going to work, and I thank Tesla for letting fresh college students really become unemployed after graduation." ”
Due to the impact on fresh graduates, Tesla's layoffs have attracted much attention on various social platforms. However, Tesla is not the first car company to lay off employees, nor is it the last.
In fact, as early as 2023, there was a "wave of layoffs" in the car circle, including large-scale layoffs by automakers and parts suppliers.
In July 2023, Lotus announced that it would lay off 200 employees, saying that it was dealing with economic difficulties;
In August, General Motors announced layoffs and closed its information technology center in Arizona.
In September, Mercedes-Benz announced a restructuring of its truck and bus chassis plant in the state of São Paulo, laying off 3,600 jobs;
In September of the same year, Volkswagen planned to lay off 2,000 employees in the CARIAD division, a reduction rate of more than 30%.
At present, following Tesla's layoffs, foreign media reported on April 24 that Volkswagen is launching a tightening plan to achieve large-scale layoffs through "voluntary resignation" and "expanded partial retirement", which will be officially implemented on April 29.
Unlike Tesla and Volkswagen, this year's Beijing Auto Show is very lively, with people in any exhibition hall, frequent interaction with executives, heads of various car companies and Lei Jun chatting happily, plus the release or appearance of countless new cars, the entire domestic car circle has created a peaceful scene.
However, judging from the 2023 annual reports disclosed by domestic automakers, the number of employees of SAIC, Great Wall Motor, Xpeng Motors and other car companies has decreased to varying degrees, such as the number of employees of SAIC Motor Group decreased by 8,998 and the number of employees of Xpeng Motors decreased by 14.4%.
There is no doubt that the "wave of layoffs" involves not only foreign car companies, but also domestic new power car companies and traditional car companies are in the whirlpool. It can be seen that behind the seemingly peaceful scene, it is actually a covered "Shura field".
Such large-scale layoffs are extremely rare in the history of automobiles, and for a while, there was a lot of noise in the automobile circle.
Interestingly, many car companies are actively posting recruitment information while implementing large-scale layoffs. The contradictory move makes people have to think deeply about this "wave of layoffs".
Based on the reasons for layoffs of various car companies, there are no more than two types:
For example, it is reported that the entire budget of Li Auto has been reduced by more than 30% and the target sales volume has been reduced, because the current ideal personnel structure is still arranged according to the target sales volume of 800,000 vehicles, and the personnel redundancy is serious, and layoffs are unavoidable.
Second, the joint venture brand counterattack, weighing "addition" and "subtraction". It is not difficult to find that from this year's Beijing Auto Show, it can be seen that in addition to the release of new brands/technologies by independent brands, joint ventures/foreign-funded car companies have also released new brands and new technologies, changing the attitude of passive "beating" in the past few years.
In short, after several years of exploration, the joint venture brand has begun to grasp the technological evolution route, and has a clearer understanding of the personnel structure, configuration, development elements, etc., so the replacement of technical personnel is a foregone conclusion.
The "wave of layoffs" inevitably makes people feel a burst of sadness, and it seems that the car circle is revealing a recession everywhere. However, under closer examination, behind the layoffs is the re-sorting of car companies in their own technology, staffing, costs and other aspects, which is the accumulation of strength for the promotion of subsequent car companies.
Combined with the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, many foreign car companies have successively launched new technologies, and even products equipped with new technologies, such as Buick GL8 Luzun PHEV, Kia uni wheel, etc. In this regard, some industry insiders have said that if you don't make adjustments in winter, it will be difficult to meet the next spring.
It is foreseeable that after the end of the "wave of layoffs", the real war in the auto market has just begun, of course, the large-scale adjustment of car companies is understandable, but the ordinary workers who have become "victims" are inevitably embarrassing.