Actively rushing to support the frontline adjustments, car companies "fight the epidemic" and all living beings

Cheba Shi·Industry

The unexpected start of 2020 and the emerging social crisis coincide with a clip from the movie "Infectious Disease" nine years ago. combine.

This plague is like a mirror, allowing us to see all kinds of things in the world. There are ordinary and great people around us, as well as people who spare no effort to release their inner greed. Light and darkness are never separated.

Fortunately, amid the fierce epidemic, as of February 6, more than 60 automobile, parts, aftermarket companies, automobile association organizations and individuals have joined in the fight to prevent and control the epidemic. , a total of nearly 700 million yuan in cash, materials and passenger vehicles have been donated, more than 100 negative pressure ambulances have been donated, and a special fund of 223 million yuan has been established.

Behind the car companies’ rush to help, they not only represent the company’s strength and responsibility, but also penetrate the concept of “all living beings” in traditional culture into corporate social responsibility, and simultaneously pass it on to the front line of epidemic prevention. In the face of sudden epidemics, The frontline's self-adjustment also constantly tests the system strength of car companies.

Responsibility for the "head"

After ten years of growth, the automobile industry has encountered a cold winter in the past two years. Some car companies have become increasingly marginalized. The car companies that temporarily occupy the top sales volume , have also "reduce costs" through modularization and optimization of manpower. Under the continued pressure of an increasingly cruel market environment, the menacing epidemic has undoubtedly made the automobile market even worse.

The market environment on the left has deteriorated, and production on the right has been temporarily suspended. Companies affected by the epidemic are facing unprecedented challenges.

Just as Jia Guolong, chairman of Xibei Catering, is worried, the epidemic has left more than 20,000 employees unemployed, and loans can only last three months to pay wages. The delay in starting construction, the logistics and transportation pressure of the lockdown, and the supply chain Problems such as heavy losses, difficulty in promoting offline marketing, and reduced customer traffic in 4S stores have emerged one after another. The future of auto companies will be even more challenging.

But this has not hindered the car companies from rushing to aid the epidemic. Since January 23, car companies, parts and aftermarket companies have extended a helping hand, ranging from donating money and materials to establishing From rigid donations such as foundations to flexible services such as providing vehicles, the automobile industry plays an important role in the social fight against the epidemic.

Take Geely Holding Group, which has donated more than 200 million yuan, as an example. It first joined hands with the Li Shufu Charity Foundation to set up a special fund for epidemic prevention and control of 200 million yuan. Later, it stated that it would make timely contributions based on the needs of epidemic prevention and control. Further expand the capital scale of special funds, and Geely Holding Group’s steps will not stop there.

Faced with the current shortage of medical supplies, it has taken advantage of its offices around the world to support the country by purchasing medical supplies in Sweden and other countries. 250,000 medical masks have been sent to the country, and 84 Geely Jiaji vehicles were provided for rescue.

In addition, in terms of travel services, its travel service platform, Caocao Travel, has also established an emergency prevention and control support fleet to provide free travel services to residents of various communities in Wuhan.

In the process of aiding the epidemic, Geely Holding Group has also extended its reach to future markets.

A few days ago, Geely Holding Group announced that Geely Automobile will invest 370 million yuan in advance to launch the research and development of "all-round healthy cars" with virus prevention functions. Its forward-looking perspective may cause car companies to Deep thinking about future products.

It is worth mentioning that, as SAIC-GM-Wuling, which has long occupied a high domestic market share, its response to the epidemic is more direct and effective, and is more consistent with the brand's pragmatic image.

On February 6, SAIC-GM-Wuling announced that it will build a new dust-free workshop to produce masks, with a total of 14 mask production lines, with a daily production capacity of more than 1.7 million pairs. While converting donations into production, it also helps optimize idle production capacity.

Compared with traditional car companies with top sales and abundant cash flow, new car-making forces that have encountered declining sales and financing difficulties are still responding quickly.

New forces "give money" to help

New car-making forces, which are strapped for funds, need to face challenges from the capital chain and the market during the epidemic, far exceeding traditional car companies, but manufacturing The performance of new car forces rushing to support the epidemic has closely followed the pace of traditional car companies.

Among them, NIO, which faced a financial crisis in 2019, took the lead and donated medical supplies worth RMB 300,000 in advance, including masks, medical caps and surgical gowns. Subsequently, donations increased, and special funds of 5 million yuan were raised with the help of NIO User Trust to fight the epidemic.

Following this, on January 28, Xpeng Motors also launched a rescue operation, donating medical supplies, vehicles and services worth RMB 3 million to medical institutions in many places; on the same day, Nezha Motors announced that it would urgently donate medical supplies, vehicles and services to Hubei Province. The Provincial Charity Federation donated 1 million yuan.

Since then, WM Motor has donated RMB 4 million in supplies to Huanggang City, Hubei Province, and Li Auto has donated RMB 2 million to the Hubei Provincial Charity Federation. Even the factory suffered a "shutdown" in July last year. "Xinte Automobile also donated 10,000 sets of protective materials during this epidemic and provided support vehicles on standby.

Even in terms of donations, it is difficult for new car-making forces to compare with traditional car companies. However, for new car-making forces currently in the early stages of development, funding issues are related to the survival of the company.

In the current national crisis, new car-making forces that donate "life-saving money" are stabilizing the user base through delayed delivery of mass-produced models, live broadcasts, and providing multiple Internet services.

Switching to another perspective, the corporate responsibility shown by the new car-making forces at this time also confirms the determination of Internet companies to move closer to automobile manufacturing companies.

Fireline Adjustment

The sudden epidemic has disrupted the regular formation of car companies in deploying 2020. While actively rushing to help, it is testing the speed of self-adjustment of car companies.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, predicted that domestic car sales in the first two months of this year may drop by about 20% year-on-year. Judging from the current situation, all aspects of car companies from production to marketing will be directly affected by the epidemic.

BMW, which won the sales championship in China with 723,000 units in 2019, has instilled the "people-oriented" concept into its internal employees and dealers.

Taking into account the seriousness of the current epidemic prevention and control, in order to ensure the healthy operation of dealers, BMW launched the "BMW Dealer Palm Office" application software and formulated 10 sanitation and epidemic prevention measures for dealer showrooms. Such measures cover everything from ventilation in the exhibition hall to cleaning and disinfection of restrooms and garbage disposal.

In the connection with the C-end, BMW, which responded to the initiative of reducing unnecessary outings, chose to extend the validity period of many services to relieve the concerns of existing car owners, and for potential users, launched the "BMW Real Vehicle Interactive Platform" "Mini program promotes terminal sales through the "online showroom".

Automotive companies such as SAIC, GAC Toyota, and Beijing Hyundai also use the Internet and automotive e-commerce platforms to provide online services. Among them, SAIC Passenger Cars uses online training to strengthen its sales team. guide.

It is understood that since February 3, SAIC Passenger Vehicles has launched online courses through the public account "SAIC Passenger Vehicles i Classroom", e-learning learning system, online live course system and other channels. Training, helping sales consultants learn online, and using VR smart showrooms, short videos/live broadcast marketing, and linking with official Douyin/Tmall flagship stores to meet customers’ car viewing needs without leaving home.

In addition, most car companies have introduced policies such as delaying the start of production, relaxing financial policies, and implementing inventory discounts to reduce the impact of the epidemic as much as possible.

From funds to materials, from frontline needs to self-innovation, from step-by-step to front-line adjustments, car companies have gathered forces from many corners to fight the epidemic, and the cold machinery of cars has also penetrated more warmth. Become warmer.

It is still unknown what impact the disruptive start of 2020 will have on our troubled nation, but from the appearances of car companies, we can see that in the face of crisis Powerful positive energy condensed from all walks of life.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.