AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/17 Report--

According to the epidemic report released by the World Health Organization, as of 17:00 on the 16th, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 epidemic outside China had increased by 13874 from the previous day to 86434, while the number of deaths outside China had increased by 848 from the previous day to 3388.

As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread outside China, several brands of vehicle factories or parts factories have announced the closure of production, including Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen, PSA, FCA and so on, mainly in Italy, Spain and the United States.

I. Italy

Italy is one of the countries with the most serious epidemic outside China. According to data released by the Italian Ministry of Health at 18:00 local time on the 16th, the total number of people confirmed to be infected with novel coronavirus in Italy was 27980, an increase of 3233 compared with 18:00 on March 15,349 new deaths.

The epidemic continued to spread in the country, with several brands of carmakers suspending production at the country's factories, including Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati.

FCA said on Monday that most of its plants in Europe would stop production until March 27 because novel coronavirus's epidemic disrupted plant operations. FCA said it would stop production at several of its plants in Italy, including Merfi, Pomiliano, Cassino, Mirafiori, Guliasco and Mondena, while the Maserati plant would also stop production for two weeks.

Earlier, Ferrari also announced that it would suspend production at its factories in Maranello and Modena until March 27 from March 16. Ferrari said that although manufacturing activities have been suspended, non-manufacturing activities continue, most of which are carried out online.

Under the influence of COVID-19, Lamborghini announced the closure of its production plant in Italy a few days ago, which will last until March 25.

II. Spain

According to data released by the Spanish Ministry of Health on the 16th, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in COVID-19 in Spain reached 9191, an increase of 1438 over the previous day. At present, Spain has more confirmed cases than South Korea.

According to overseas media reports, Renault, Nissan's Spanish factory and Volkswagen subsidiary Seattle Group announced a suspension of production, which could last for several days or even weeks, because the supply of spare parts was affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Deiss, chairman of Volkswagen Group, said that due to the spread of novel coronavirus's epidemic, Volkswagen's Seattle plant in Spain, Volkswagen brand Setubal in Portugal, Bratislava in Slovakia, Lamborghini in Italy and Ducati will stop production by the end of this week, and is preparing to close further factories in Europe and Germany, possibly for two to three weeks.

Nissan's two factories in Barcelona began to shut down on the afternoon of the 13th due to a shortage of tires, and its tire supplier factory is located near Odna, where the epidemic is severe. This is the first time that Nissan has stopped production outside China due to the impact of the epidemic, and Nissan's factories in Japan may continue to cut production due to a shortage of spare parts.

French carmaker Renault said on Tuesday that it would suspend operations in Spain because of the novel coronavirus crisis and had declared a state of emergency. Earlier, Renault closed production at its plants in Barria Dolid and Palencia, Spain, after the supply chain was severely affected by the spread of the epidemic in northern Spain.

Peugeot-Citroen (PSA) said in a statement that its plants in Percy, Rennes and Sox in France, Zaragoza in Spain, Sennach and Russelsheim in Germany, the port of Ellesmere in the UK and Gryvez in Poland would stop production on Tuesday. In addition, the carmaker's factories in Khodan in France, Vigo in Spain and Manguard in Portugal will also suspend production on Wednesday.

In addition, Ford announced that it would close the plant on the 16th and stop production for a week because three employees were diagnosed with COVID-19 at its plant in Palencia, Spain.

III. The United States

According to the statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the public health departments of various states, a total of 4629 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the United States as of 7: 00 p.m. eastern time on March 16, with 860 new confirmed cases on the 16th.

Novel coronavirus, a worker at FCA's transmission factory in Indiana, tested positive, and the plant is still operating normally after taking protective measures, Reuters reported. Last week, General Motors, Ford and FCA asked employees to start telecommuting.

In addition, General Motors, Ford, FCA and UAW announced that they would jointly set up a task force to deal with the threat posed by COVID-19 's epidemic and strengthen the protection of production and warehouse employees of the three car companies.

Since the epidemic began to spread in December last year, it has spread to more than 100 countries and regions, posing a great threat to global public health. At present, the relatively serious epidemic outside China includes Italy, Spain, South Korea, Japan, the United States and so on. The epidemic will pose a great threat to the automobile industry in these countries.

With the continuous invasion of the epidemic to overseas countries, a number of car companies have issued information to stop production. The epidemic was initially just a supply and demand problem for Chinese carmakers, but as it spread to other countries, it quickly raised fears of a global recession and falling consumer demand. The knock-on effect of novel coronavirus's epidemic on consumer demand could lead to a 16 per cent drop in global car production in 2020, while US car sales are expected to fall by 20 per cent, according to Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets.

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