Volkswagen lost 2 billion euros a week, Tesla planned to lay off employees, and car companies were in an uproar.

As of April 1 day 16: 59 Beijing time, 853,383 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed, 6,440 cases have been diagnosed, 465,438 cases have died+0,904 cases, and 67,462 cases have been cured/KLOC-0. At present, the domestic epidemic situation has been gradually controlled, but the influence of foreign epidemic situation is still expanding, which has also caused the global automobile market to suffer heavy losses. The automobile factories in the United States, Germany, Italy and other countries have stopped production one after another, which has cast a shadow over the global automobile market that is already in the "cold winter". Then, this issue of auto market news focuses on the analysis of two countries where auto companies are concentrated, the United States and Germany, to see what measures the auto companies in the United States and Germany have taken during the epidemic and what impact they have suffered.

Ford Motor Company closed factories all over the United States due to the epidemic. On March 26th, CEO Han of Ford Motor Company said that the company needs to cut costs as soon as possible, including recruiting new employees and reducing management salaries, but it does not involve layoffs at present. As for the part of reducing the salary of management, starting from May 1, 20%-50% of the salary of the top 300 executives of Ford Motor Company will be delayed for at least five months.

Han also said that Ford did not lay off employees, on the one hand, because the current situation is very severe, and on the other hand, he hoped that all the existing team members would stay and contribute to the revitalization after the crisis. Although Hankate's words are full of positive energy, Ford's credit rating was downgraded from BBB- to BB+ by Standard & Poor's global rating, which means that Ford's stock has become a "junk stock", which makes people feel embarrassed.

General Motors does the same as Ford Motor Company. On March 26th, local time, General Motors said that it was freezing the work on the new car project. In order to save costs for the company, all salaried employees will be temporarily reduced by 20%, and nearly 69,000 employees will be affected. In addition, the wages of white-collar employees will also be postponed to save cash. At the same time, GM said on Thursday that the closing time of the North American factory was extended to March 30, and the start time was to be determined. There is no news of layoffs at present.

Compared with Ford and GM, Tesla's approach is more direct, and it plans to cut about 75% employees in the Nevada super battery factory. In addition to layoffs to reduce costs, the Tesla factory has not completely stopped working. Tesla's fremont factory is the only factory in the San Francisco Bay Area that can be started, and it is also the only automobile production factory of Tesla in the United States. According to the health order of alameda county, California, where the factory is located, Tesla is not an essential business, so it can only operate according to the minimum. Although the degree of operation is limited, it is good to maintain a certain output. The epidemic also caused Tesla's share price to fall by 24% in March and has not rebounded yet. If the epidemic cannot be controlled in time, Tesla is likely to continue its net profit loss in 2020.

German Volkswagen was caught off guard by the COVID-19 epidemic after experiencing the high-light moment of global sales rising against the trend on 20 19. According to the latest news, Volkswagen will extend the production suspension period to April 9, involving all factories in Germany that produce passenger cars, commercial vehicles and parts. Due to the continuous shutdown of factories in various places, the financial situation of Volkswagen Group has also issued an early warning. Volkswagen Group has to face the cost of 2 billion euros every week. If the epidemic is not effectively controlled, it is likely to consider layoffs.

Officials said that due to the 74% decline in sales in China in February and the bleak sales situation in Europe, Volkswagen Group predicted that the profit in the first quarter might drop sharply. At present, except for the China market, the public's income is very small. According to the sales data of 20 19, the global sales volume of Audi ag is 2010.97 million, of which the sales volume in China market is 4,233,600, accounting for 38.6%; In terms of profit alone, in 20 19, the operating profit of Audi AG was 170 billion euros, of which the operating profit from joint ventures in China was 4.4 billion euros, accounting for 25.88%.

At present, the domestic epidemic situation has been effectively controlled and the factory has resumed production. Herbert Diss, CEO of Volkswagen, said at the annual meeting on March 17, "I am quite optimistic about the China market. China has taken decisive measures to prevent and control the epidemic and ensure the operation of the supply chain. By the end of this year, China's automobile market will have a good result. However, affected by the epidemic, we predict that the sales of Volkswagen Group in China market may drop by 3% in 2020. "

In addition, Mercedes-Benz also closed its factory in Europe for two weeks, which not only affected the passenger car business, but also affected the commercial vehicle business. However, Mercedes-Benz officials are very optimistic about the suspension of production, believing that the suspension of production will help enterprises prepare for the temporarily shrinking demand and preserve their financial strength.

BMW Group, located in Munich, Germany, not only closed the factory, but also timely adjusted the operating conditions of dealers and introduced a number of care policies. In addition, the production of MINI and rolls-royce has also been affected, and when to resume work is currently undecided. At the same time, BMW Group also adjusted its sales plan for 2020, and predicted that the sales volume in the same period in 2020 would be lower than 20 19 years.

It is true that the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic is unprecedented. Let's take Germany for example. Automobile industry is its pillar industry, which contributes about 5% of GDP and 4% of employment. Due to the impact of the epidemic, the overall market demand has shrunk and the supply chain cannot be supplied, which has a great impact on the overall economy of Germany.

In February, the overall sales volume of China auto market plunged sharply, which can almost be regarded as the epitome of the global auto market. It is certain that the output of automobile enterprises will decline and the consumer demand will shrink. Due to the suspension of production, major car companies have to face huge costs, and their cash flow has been greatly impacted. For example, Daimler is negotiating with banks to obtain a credit line of at least 654.38+0 billion euros to help them cope with the impact of the epidemic.

In addition, the automobile industry itself is in a complex coordinate axis, involving manufacturing, finance and other fields, which will affect the whole body. At present, the global epidemic control has missed the golden window period, and it is impossible to confirm when the inflection point will appear, and it is impossible to change the overall situation in the short term. If the epidemic situation is not controlled, the automobile market environment in other countries except China will only deteriorate further. In addition, the epidemic may also lead to changes in consumer psychology and consumption patterns, so when the epidemic is over, major car companies may face new opportunities and challenges.

In fact, in addition to the two major automobile producing countries, the United States and Germany, Italy, France, Japan and other countries have been affected by the epidemic to varying degrees. Moreover, due to the closure of cities and traffic jams in various countries, the upstream and downstream supply chains have also been hit hard. Many automobile companies are looking for alternative suppliers of parts to meet the stable production after the factory is restarted. Finally, Xiao Zhi shared everyone's hope that the global epidemic could be effectively controlled as soon as possible. The mountains and rivers are exotic, and the sun and the moon are the same. How can you say that you have no clothes, and you are just like your son?

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.