Due to the epidemic, Detroit's Big Three BMW, Volkswagen, Honda and PSA stopped production one after another.

Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, American car companies stopped production on March 18 local time. Although Ford and GM and other car companies have been telling employees to work from home since Monday, trying to reduce the impact of the epidemic, the epidemic has developed fiercely. As of March 19, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the United States has reached 94 10, ranking fifth in the world after Germany. Starting from March 18, American factories including GM, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and other brands have announced that they will stop production or will stop production soon. In addition to the Detroit Big Three, European manufacturers including BMW, PSA and Volkswagen have entered the rhythm of production suspension. From Europe to North America, car companies are clamoring for bankruptcy.

The Big Three collectively announced the suspension of production.

Fiat Chrysler (FCA) announced the closure of four factories in Italy in early March, but the turbulent epidemic development made it difficult for North America to become a pure land. The FCA official said that the North American factory will be closed from March 18 until the end of March.

At present, two cases of COVID-19 epidemic have been confirmed among FCA workers, one from the Stirling Haitz assembly plant in Michigan and the other from Cocomo gearbox factory in Indiana.

On Wednesday (18) local time in the United States, GM and Ford announced that they would stop production at the same time, and the time will last until the end of March. Ford and GM will close all factories in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Just this Monday, Ford and GM also said that they have arranged for all employees in non-production lines and non-critical positions to work remotely from home to reduce the risk of infection. But unexpectedly, it took only two days to make a decision to officially close the factory.

On March 18, US time, Ford officially stated that from Thursday night to March 30, all Ford factories in the United States, Canada and Mexico were closed; The leaders of UAW and Ford will negotiate the return to work plan on the premise of ensuring the health and safety of workers and the production process; In addition, Ford's factories in Germany and Romania will also be temporarily closed.

Almighty? CEO？ Mary? Barra said in an official statement that GM has taken preventive measures around the world to ensure the safety of the factory production environment. The recent development of the epidemic in North America determines that it is correct for us to stop production now.

▲ general CEO? Mary? balas

Pressure from American trade unions

FCA, Ford and GM decided to close their factories at this time, in part because of the United Auto Workers (United? Cars? The pressure of workers (UAW).

As early as March 15, in order to protect workers from COVID-19 infection, UAW began to urge GM, FCA and Ford Motor Company to stop production for two weeks, which was rejected by many companies. Then the union gave the Big Three two days to work out a plan to protect workers. However, with the development of the epidemic, the willingness of UAW to stop production is getting stronger and stronger.

Just this Tuesday, the mainstream thinking of the Big Three is still to continue production. However, after UAW met with the leaders of the Big Three on Tuesday night, the Big Three finally decided to stop production.

How powerful the American Auto Union is, we can see clearly from the fact that it ordered the Big Three to close their factories. Like President Rory of UAW? Gamble said in Ford's official news: it is very necessary to close the factory at this stage, and we should protect the safety of UAW members and their families and communities ... so we ask Ford to cooperate with us and take effective measures (we? Recommended? Ford? For what? Work? With what? We? And then what? Take it? This? Bold? One step).

This tone is obviously beyond doubt.

▲UAW President Rory? take a risk

CEO of FCA? McManley even said very euphemistically in the official statement. "I accompanied UAW to visit our factory. We must ensure that the employees here are safe, and we also provide all necessary protection. In the future, we will try our best to protect the safety of employees. "

However, although the Detroit Big Three have all announced the suspension of production, they are not idle, and at least they can transform the production of medical equipment. A GM spokesperson said that the feasibility of transforming the production of medical equipment such as ventilators has been studied.

Outside the Big Three, multinational car companies have stopped.

Honda plans to stop production from March 23 to the end of the month, including all factories in the United States, Mexico and Canada. However, in its official statement, the main reason mentioned is that "considering the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the economy, the demand in the automobile market is expected to decrease. In the same period, Honda's gearbox and engine factory also stopped production simultaneously. The suspension of production will cause Honda to reduce production by 40,000 vehicles.

Honda said that although it stopped production, it would pay the wages of 27,600 North American employees in full, and it would also use this time to carry out deep cleaning and disinfection of factories and equipment.

Toyota will close the 65,438+04 factory in North America next Monday and Tuesday, and use the closing time to carry out in-depth cleaning of the factory. Also on March 18, Nissan also announced that it would officially stop production from March 20th, and the time will last until April 6th. Although the Tesla California factory has no plans to stop production at present, it plans to reduce the number of workers per shift.

In the European market, BMW Group said on June 5438+08 that due to the epidemic situation and supply chain difficulties, considering the health of workers, BMW's factories in Europe and South Africa will be closed for four weeks. The loss of production capacity caused by factory closure accounts for half of the global production capacity.

On March 17, Volkswagen announced that it would close most factories in Europe and stop production for at least two weeks. Many factories in Spain, Portugal, Slovakia and Italy will stop production before this weekend. Factories in Mexico, Brazil and the United States are operating normally.

On March 16, PSA Group, one of the largest automobile groups in Europe, announced that it would close all its factories in Europe from now on, and the closing time would last until March 27th. As one of the largest automobile groups in Europe, PSA has 65,438+05 factories in France, Spain, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Poland. The factory will be closed from March 16, and all factories will be closed until March 19.

Renault, a French automobile brand, also announced the closure of all factories in France on March 17, and the time for resumption of production has not been fixed. Italian luxury car brands such as Ferrari and Lamborghini have announced the suspension of production.

Finally?

There are two reasons why multinational car companies stop production on a large scale in European and American markets. On the one hand, the epidemic situation is a potential threat to workers' health. Especially in the United States, many automobile companies, including FCA, Ford and Hyundai, have reported that workers are infected with COVID-19 virus. In addition, the pressure from trade unions has also made car companies dare not take it lightly. In particular, American trade unions are extremely powerful. In the event of mistakes or accidents, litigation may make car companies bear huge claims.

On the other hand, it is a pessimistic expectation of the decline in demand in European and American markets. Morgan Stanley previously released a forecast report saying that due to the epidemic, it is estimated that the sales of American cars will drop by 9% year-on-year in 2020, reducing the demand for 654.38+0.6 million vehicles. As can be seen from the facts in China market, such a prediction is not exaggerated. The Federation predicts that the retail sales of passenger cars in the China market will decrease by 2 million this year. Honda, Toyota and other car companies that attach great importance to inventory management choose to stop production and reduce production to cope with market fluctuations.

According to the news from BMW, affected by the epidemic, BMW Group predicts that the profit rate will drop from 6.8% in 20 19 to 2%-4% in 2020, a decrease of about half. If the epidemic continues to spread, it is not excluded that BMW will close more factories after closing factories in Europe and South Africa. This will have a greater impact on BMW's income. Because there are too many unknown factors, it is difficult for more multinational giants to make accurate predictions, but this year there is a high probability that they will tighten their belts. And with the development of the epidemic, I don't know when it will end.

The main theme of the global auto market policy this year will probably converge into two words: rescue the market!

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