AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/08 Report--

With the gradual weakening of the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, most domestic automobile enterprises have completed their resumption of work. According to the data of the China Automobile Association on March 3, the resumption rate of domestic mainstream vehicle groups has reached 84.1%, but it is limited to a variety of factors. Many factories are still unable to achieve full resumption of production, mostly single-shift production.

Toyota Motor has announced that it will resume normal production at several factories in China and local factories in Japan from March 9, including four full-vehicle plants in Changchun and Guangzhou, Jilin Province, and all domestic factories affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic, Reuters reported.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic this year, Toyota's four assembly plants in China have been temporarily closed in response to the government's plan to delay the resumption of work and production, with two factories in Changchun and Guangzhou only gradually resuming production on February 17. while the Tianjin plant resumed production on February 18, but due to the one-shift system, the output is seriously below the highest level.

To this end, Toyota said its two plants in Changchun and Chengdu would adopt round-the-clock shifts from March 9 to increase production capacity to the same level as before the temporary closure of the Spring Festival, while the other two factories in Guangzhou and Tianjin will continue to produce conventional models with lower-than-normal two-shift production.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda revealed on February 17 that the Chinese factory would resume work in stages, saying that "there is a wide range of industries around the car, about various parts and so on, sometimes it is impossible to know if the factory is not up and running." So Toyota temporarily plans to maintain low-speed production at three factories and observe parts inventory, logistics networks and employees.

Data show that Toyota's four factories in China are in Changchun, Jilin, Chengdu, Tianjin, Sichuan, and Guangzhou, Guangdong. Guangzhou is the Guangzhou Toyota factory, which produces models such as Camry, Hanlanda, Leiling and so on. The other three all produce FAW Toyota models, of which Yifeng Tianjin plant is Toyota's largest passenger car production base in China, and Asian Dragon and Yize, including Toyota star model Corolla, are all produced in this factory. While Yifeng Changchun factory mainly produces SUV models such as RAV4 Rongfang, Land Cruiser and Prius, while Yifeng Chengdu factory mainly produces Costa and Prado.

In 2019, sales in the Chinese car market ended with a decline of 8 per cent, while Toyota's skidding sales reached 1.62 million, up 9 per cent year-on-year and a record high. FAW Toyota sold 738000 vehicles in 2019, up 2 per cent from the same period last year. Guangzhou Auto Toyota sold 682000 vehicles in 2019, up 17.59% from the same period last year.

However, under the severe impact of the epidemic in January and February this year, the production cuts had a predictable impact on Toyota's performance, including a decline in sales in the Chinese market. China is Toyota's second largest single market in the world after the United States. In February, Toyota sold only 23800 vehicles in China, down 70.2 per cent from a year earlier, according to Toyota figures. In January, Toyota sold 145000 units in China, down 1.2 per cent from a year earlier.

Even if it is the first large automaker in the world to report its sales in China in February, Toyota's experience is also a microcosm of the state of many car companies during this period, although many car companies have not yet released two sales results. but I believe it will be within people's imagination.

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