Global auto industry striving for recovery

The automobile industry has the characteristics of long industrial chain and highly globalized division of labor. Under the impact of the epidemic, the automobile industry of many countries once stopped production. Recently, as the epidemic situation in some countries slows down, automobile enterprises actively promote the resumption of work and production. Many governments have also actively formulated rescue policies to stimulate the recovery of the industry from the automobile production end and sales end, push the automobile industry out of the trough, and help the industry realize recovery and transformation. According to the latest data, global auto companies have received at least $155 billion in financial support in the past 3 months, including $44 billion in bonds and $111 billion in loans. Among them, 33 U.S. auto companies and parts companies received $50 billion in loans and issued $16 billion in bonds; more than 20 European auto companies, suppliers and car rental companies received $47 billion in loans and issued $19 billion in bonds; Asian auto companies such as Toyota, Subaru and Hyundai received $13 billion in loans and issued $9.4 billion in bonds. Analysts pointed out that the global auto industry is expected to recover gradually in the year, given the self rescue measures such as bond issuance and layoffs by auto companies, and the introduction of economic stimulus policies for the auto industry in various countries. After the outbreak, people may be more inclined to drive, which also helps the auto industry gradually recover. Production and sales are seriously impacted by the epidemic. Due to the large number of jobs, long industrial chain and strict division of labor in the automobile industry, the epidemic has brought a huge impact on the global automobile industry chain. The automobile industry has suffered a serious crisis of production and consumption terminals. According to the statistics of the European Association of automobile manufacturers, as of June, the loss of automobile production within the European Union had exceeded 2.446 million, of which more than 616000 were in Germany. In the first quarter of this year, the global delivery volume of Volkswagen, a German auto giant, was only 2 million vehicles, down 23% year-on-year; its revenue was 55.1 billion euros, down 8.3% year-on-year; its profit before tax was 3.9 billion euros, down 81.4%. According to the statistics of German Federal Automobile Transportation Bureau, in May this year, the number of newly registered vehicles was 168000, down about 50% compared with the same month, and the confidence of German automobile industry fell to the lowest level since 1991. Novel coronavirus pneumonia has been affected by the global spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and 8 Japanese automakers, including TOYOTA, Nissan, Honda and SUZUKI, have dropped 60.5% in April, down from 26% in March, exceeding the biggest drop in the international financial crisis, according to the Japan economic news. According to the data, the light vehicle production in the United States fell 99.47% year-on-year in April. Only general motors, Mercedes Benz and Hyundai produced cars in the United States that month, but the production was less than 5000. Recently, the government and enterprises have taken a variety of measures to deal with the situation. With the slowdown of epidemic situation in some countries and regions, countries have begun to actively promote the resumption of production, including the automobile industry, and large-scale automobile enterprises have also taken measures such as layoffs and relaxation of vehicle loan restrictions to "save themselves". The rescue measures implemented by many governments to restart the economy have helped the recovery of the automobile industry. According to statistics, in 2020, the number of job cuts in global automobile enterprises is expected to exceed 100000, mainly in North America and Europe. Toyota's chief executive, Akio Toyoda, said at the annual shareholders' meeting that Toyota is relaxing the repayment period of auto loans and providing second-hand car rental services, seeking loans and credit lines from banks, and will continue to invest in research and development. Volkswagen Group Chief Executive Didier previously said that due to the outbreak, Volkswagen must further significantly reduce R & D expenditure, investment and fixed costs. At present, Volkswagen has applied for short-term work system for 80000 employees. German auto parts giant ZF recently announced that it will cut 15000 jobs in the world in the next five years. Renault, the French carmaker, has announced that it will cut about 15000 jobs worldwide in the next three years, and plans to reduce fixed costs by 2 billion euros and reduce production capacity to cope with declining performance. Johnson Matthey, the world's largest diesel engine catalyst producer, announced on June 11 that it plans to cut about 2500 jobs, saying that although automakers have begun to resume production, "the road to recovery is still long.". Since May, automobile factories in Germany, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Slovakia and other big automobile manufacturing countries have begun to resume production. The 75 billion euro rescue plan launched in May at EU level has 20 billion euro to promote clean energy vehicle sales, and plans to install 2 million electric vehicle charging piles by 2025. The German government also plans to provide 2 billion euros of subsidies to vehicle and auto parts enterprises for technological innovation, and will invest 2.5 billion euros for the expansion of charging network and battery research and development. The German government recently approved a 130 billion euro economic revitalization package to help the German economy recover from the epidemic crisis as soon as possible. Among them, the support funds for the automobile industry reached 5 billion euros. Before that, France launched a support plan for the automobile industry, with an amount of more than 8 billion euros. With the reopening of states in the United States, American automakers restarted most of their assembly plants at the end of May. The stronger than expected retail sales in May prompted automakers to speed up production, data showed. Jim Farley, Ford's chief operating officer, said on June 11 that his U.S. auto assembly plant is expected to return to its pre outbreak operating level in early July. "An average car has more than 10000 parts, which requires extensive cooperation between suppliers and trading partners to promote a safe and reliable restart of car production," said John bozara, chief executive of the automotive innovation alliance. The auto industry will usher in a transformation opportunity. A new report of Bank of America predicts that global auto sales will not recover to the pre epidemic level until 2022 or 2023. According to the latest forecast of ward consulting, the sales volume of light vehicles in the United States will drop to about 13.4 million in 2020, far lower than the forecast of nearly 17 million before the outbreak. The agency also expects U.S. car sales to return to pre epidemic levels by 2023. Affected by the epidemic, online sales are increasingly accepted by car consumers. The New York Times commented that in the past, consumers used to use the Internet to browse car information and buy cars from dealers. This is changing as the epidemic spreads. Vroom, an online used car sales platform, has recently been listed on Nasdaq, causing widespread market attention. Through the vroom platform, customers can complete the transaction without going to the store in person, and the platform arranges customers to pick up or deliver goods. Since March, the platform's e-commerce sales have reached a record. According to the analysis, this highlights that auto retailers are increasingly turning to e-commerce. "Real time experience is a trend in the automotive industry now and in the future," commented CBT automotive world. Com, although some social isolation measures have been lifted, car dealers may still need to limit the number of customers to ensure everyone's safety. At present, many dealer websites use chat robots driven by artificial intelligence to deal with after hours consultation, and transfer some customers to online agents. The car kingdom chain, which has 325 dealerships across the country, reported significant growth in online sales in March and April. Michael Jackson, chief executive of the company, said: "even if the social isolation measures are relaxed, online car sales will continue to grow, which is a turning point and a strategic change." John bozara said that despite the ongoing restart of the auto industry, there is still a high degree of uncertainty in auto production and sales in terms of supply chain challenges, consumer confidence and overall economic signals. The hot sale of electric vehicles is also one of the few highlights of the epidemic. Sales of electric vehicles in Germany increased by 20% in May, while sales of pure electric vehicles in Europe exceeded 130000 in the first quarter of this year, up 58% from the same period last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. "We need to act quickly on the charging infrastructure to give consumers the confidence to buy electric cars, to ensure that they replace old cars in an environmentally friendly way, and to promote the transformation of the car industry," said Eric mark juitma, director general of the association of European car manufacturers