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The impact of the epidemic on the automotive industry is still a hot topic. When talking about the impact of the epidemic, Tang Weishi, CEO of PSA Group, said: "the epidemic makes the automobile industry realize that it is risky to rely too much on Asian supply chains, while Peugeot Citroen itself is very low on Chinese parts, so it is more calm in dealing with this crisis, which is, to some extent, an advantage of Peugeot Citroen."

Some netizens said that "if you withdraw from the Chinese market, the degree of dependence can be reduced to zero", "the reason why French cars fail in China is that they do not rely on China", and "who knows, the epidemic has begun to spread in Europe, and whether the advantages will become inferior."

Due to the sudden attack of the COVID-19 epidemic, China's automobile industry has suffered a huge blow, from auto parts suppliers to car manufacturers to car dealers, whether independent Chinese car companies or Sino-foreign joint venture car enterprises are all affected by the epidemic.

The epidemic led to the suspension of production in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the automobile industry, although it resumed work and production in mid-February, but the impact on the automobile industry is still continuous.

Because China is the world's largest auto market and the world's largest supplier of parts. In the context of the epidemic, auto parts manufacturers have to stop production, many overseas car companies eventually stop production because of insufficient supply chain, including Nissan, Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, Hyundai and other car companies.

As a French car company, PSA's global performance and sales are not very poor. According to data released by PSA, the PSA Group achieved an overall operating income of 74.731 billion euros (571.7 billion yuan) last year, up 1 percent from a year earlier; operating profit was 4.668 billion euros, up 6.1 percent from a year earlier; and PSA's net profit belonging to its parent company was 3.201 billion euros (24.4 billion yuan) in 2019, up 13.2 percent from the same period last year.

No matter which indicator is considered, it is an indisputable fact that PSA Group has made a profit. However, it is worth noting that in terms of the sales performance of the automobile industry alone, PSA Group's sales are showing a downward trend.

Global sales of PSA Group were 3.49 million vehicles in 2019, down 10% from the same period last year. In addition to slight year-on-year increases in sales in India and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Russia, sales in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, China and Southeast Asia all declined sharply.

As the first outbreak of the epidemic in China, it has two joint ventures in China, namely, Citroen Motor, which is a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor, and Peugeot Citroen, which is formed with Changan Motor.

Citroen mainly sells Peugeot brand and Citroen brand, while Changan PSA mainly sells DS high-end brand, but no matter which brand, the two companies do not have a high sense of presence in China, and their share is decreasing every year. Last year, PSA suffered a loss and writedown of 700 million euros (about 5.4 billion yuan) in China.

DPCA happens to be located in the hardest-hit area of the epidemic, and the impact of the epidemic on DPCA is even worse. It has been more than a month since it stopped production, and DPCA plans to start construction after the 10th. Although Changan PSA is less affected by the epidemic, it has "ceased to exist". Both PSA and Changan Motor sold their shares and Baoneng Motor took over.

In the face of the epidemic, the virus knows no national boundaries, and we need to fight with one heart and one mind to repel the epidemic together, especially without regional discrimination. The ambassador to France was mad at some bad words, saying that in the era of globalization, countries are interdependent, and if any country or enterprise depends on China, it is the result of globalization and market competition. Although China faces temporary difficulties in the face of the epidemic, its long-term economic development has not changed. If the industrial chain is moved to other countries, no one can guarantee that this country will never have an epidemic, or that its ability to cope with the epidemic will be better than that of China.

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