International car makers production in China hit by coronavirus outbreak, says Digitimes Research
Evan Chen, Jessie Lin, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES
Several international automobile manufacturers’ production at joint ventures in China has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, with General Motors, Volkswagen and Honda Motor hit severely in particular, according to Digitimes Research.
General Motors’ car production in China took up 45% of its global output in 2019, followed by Volkswagen with 38%, Honda with 31%, Nissan Motor with 27%, BMW with 24% and Mercedes-Benz with 22%, Digitimes Research indicated. These international car makers’ 2020 production is expected to be undermined by the outbreak.
In addition, China is a main exporting country for automobile components, accounting for 37.1% of Japan’s total import value in 2019 and 31.1% of that of South Korea. Although automotive components exported from China are mostly peripheral such as rubber pedals, car door springs, fabrics used in air bags and wiring harness, China-based makers’ short supply due to the outbreak has affected car production in Japan and South Korea. For example, Nissan’s car plant in Japan and Hyundai Motor’s in South Korea have been forced to stop production temporarily.
Since automotive components are of a large variety and car makers’ certification takes long time, it is actually impossible to shift orders in the short term. Thus, China-based makers’ short supply is likely to impact other car factories in the next several weeks.
