Tesla’s auto sales in China in April fell 36% year-on-year, the worst drop in two years. The Covid-19 epidemic has caused factories to close, disrupted supply chains and caused people to stay at home, causing a decrease in demand for cars.
According to the China Vehicle Association, auto sales in April fell to 1.04 million vehicles, while output fell even more sharply, at 41 percent, to 969,000 vehicles.
The automakers hardest hit include Tesla, Volkswagen, and Nissan Motor. Last month, Tesla sold only 1,512 cars in the Chinese market, down 94% year-on-year and much lower than the 65,000 it sold in March.
Tesla sales in China
This negative impact also spreads globally as Tesla’s sales from the Chinese factory, where the company makes Model 3 and Model Y, fell to zero while the company sold about a quarter last year. A third of the cars they produce go to the Shanghai market.
The electric vehicle giant is struggling to regain momentum despite reopening its Shanghai factory. In April, Tesla produced only 10,757 cars, just a fraction of its previous production.
Tesla previously set a goal of increasing capacity to 2,600 vehicles per day. However, on Tuesday, they continued to cut production by another 200 vehicles per day due to supply problems. Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that he hopes the restrictions will be lifted soon.
Toyota Motor also said it will suspend production lines at eight factories across Japan due to supply disruptions from China’s blockade policies. The time is expected to last for 6 days and will cause the company’s vehicle production to decrease by 50,000 vehicles globally, to 700,000 units in May.
China’s auto sales began to decline in March as lockdown policies aimed at combating the spread of the Omicron variant led to many economic recession problems, with growth and Consumption slowed down.
Car sales in China
Since 2020, car sales have been falling, but manufacturers have quickly regained their recovery as China quickly brought the pandemic under control. However this time with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the situation looks more difficult.
China’s northeast China’s major cities of Shanghai and Changchun, two major auto manufacturing hubs with production accounting for one-fifth of the country’s cars, have restricted travel for residents as well. like shipping goods for almost 2 months now. Although local authorities have begun to allow some companies in key industries such as automobiles or semiconductors to work with closed processes in order to prevent the epidemic, the supply chain is still a very important thing. fragile.
As for Volkswagen, retail sales of the two local joint ventures fell by 52% and 49%, respectively. Sales of the joint venture between General Motors Co. with the state-owned SAIC Motor Corp also fell 57%.
Nissan said sales in China in April fell 46 percent year-on-year. Explaining this, the company representative attributed the decline in output and sales to semiconductor shortages as well as other supply chain and logistics disruptions. The company’s component exports were also severely affected.
Similarly, Honda Motor’s sales also fell by 36% due to parts shortages and blockade orders. Honda spokesman Zhu Linjie said the company’s joint-venture factories halted production for about a week in April, and despite the resumption of operations, the company still faces a situation. missing some auto parts.
Supply and demand issues will continue to face serious challenges in May, including disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic and ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, as well as rising domestic consumption. weaken.
Cui Dongshu, general secretary of the China Automobile Association, forecast auto sales will continue to decline in May although companies have gradually resumed operations.
Mr. Cui added that companies in the field of automobile manufacturing and assembly are gradually adapting more stably and flexibly to the situation.
Consumer confidence is also faltering, prompting many auto dealers to slash prices even further. About 43% of vehicle dealers surveyed by the China Automobile Dealers Association said they expect consumer demand to continue to weaken in May.
The bright spot in the bleak picture for the auto industry in April was that sales of electric cars jumped 78% to 282,000 units year-on-year, while electric vehicle startups like NIO Inc. , XPeng Inc. and Li Auto Inc. recorded a decline in manufacturing activity.
The three companies said their delivery figures for April fell between 42% and 62% from the previous month.
According to Li Auto, this outbreak has disrupted supplies in Shanghai and Kunshan, which provide 80% of the company’s supply. Some suppliers have stopped producing or distributing products altogether, making it impossible for the company to maintain production after running out of spare parts stock.
Amperex, China’s top battery maker and a key supplier to Tesla, has told its shareholders that it has been affected by the restrictions to a relatively small extent.
Source: Reuters
at Blogtuan.info – Source: autopro.com.vn – Read the original article here
