The dust has settled? See the impact of the Japanese earthquake on the automotive market

In March, after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami erupted in eastern Japan, world industries experienced another earthquake.

At the beginning of the disaster, we explored its impact on the automotive industry. In the past two months or more, some of the dust and haze that had been plucked by the earthquake and tsunami had dissipated, but others had accumulated over time, and negative influences have only gradually emerged—this, perhaps, is another. In a sense, "dust settled."

Taking the automotive industry as an example, four out of the top ten automotive groups in the world's auto industry are Japanese companies, including Toyota Motor, which ranks first in the world. They suffered heavy losses in the earthquake and production is difficult to recover. In the worst case, as expected by people, the supply of spare parts was insufficient, resulting in the suspension or reduction of production of car factories in various parts of the world.

Now, the impact of the earthquake has been "transitioned" from the automotive companies to consumers. There have been a number of Japanese joint ventures that have reduced or stopped production in China. Terminal supply shortages have resulted in reduced or even increased fare prices, or the provision of car time has been extended indefinitely. The tens of thousands of yuan of original Japanese companies were all canceled.

In fact, the earthquake not only affected the production of Japanese auto companies, but also affected other auto companies in Europe or North America. An insider of a car company told reporters that in Fukushima, Japan, there was a supplier of parts for the production of raw materials damaged during the earthquake. This raw material is one of the important raw materials for the deployment of automobile metallic paint. The supplier is also in the world. The only supplier of parts and components for the production of this raw material was affected by car manufacturers all over the world. Not only that, Japan’s advanced electronic components are also the preferred source of spare parts for auto companies all over the world, and have also been hit hard by the earthquake.

In this issue, we visited the car dealers and dealers in Beijing to see what the “dust” of these earthquakes has begun to dissipate and what has accumulated.

FAW Mazda may be out of stock in October

According to Dong Xuan, sales manager of FAW Mazda Huaritong Store, the original spare parts can only be supplied for two or three months. Although the manufacturers have already consciously controlled the production rhythm, they will not run out of existing spare parts, but from July It may be necessary to reduce production by half at the beginning and it may be more serious in October. Therefore, the price of the in-store models has now risen by about 1%, and it has risen by about one or two thousand yuan. "Because of the release of the Yaohao customer's purchasing power, it is expected that sales will pick up around July, coupled with the impact of the earthquake, it is expected that the store may be out of stock after October." Dong Xuan said.

[manufacturer] cut sales plan

After entering the month of May, the impact of the earthquake on FAW Mazda's domestic cars began to appear due to the gradual exhaustion of parts and spare parts. Last week, the reporter learned from FAW Mazda that the factory's production capacity has been reduced, and now it has returned to normal production. In addition, FAW Mazda has also begun to consider reducing the sales target for this year, and the specific reduction rate is still under study. At the same time, as a supplier is severely damaged during the earthquake, the purple and blue models of Mazda's full range of models cannot be produced, and I am afraid that it cannot be resumed in the short term.

Changes in specific models: Ruiyi 2.0L luxury type sales price at the FAW Mazda Huaritsu Store before April is about 182,800 yuan (the official guide price is 194,800 yuan), and now it is back up to about 184,800 yuan.

Dongfeng Honda saw no significant changes

According to Zhang Feng, general manager of Dongfeng Honda Xinbolong Store, after the earthquake, Dongfeng Honda reduced production by about one-third, but the supply and price of the shop did not change much. “Because the sales situation in Beijing this year is not good, the supply of general manufacturers will be supplied according to the needs of dealers. After the earthquake, the supply to Beijing will not have much impact.”

[manufacturer] new car listing or postponed

Dongbin Honda's deputy general manager Chen Binbo said that due to the limited supply of spare parts in Japan, Dongfeng Honda's recent production has been affected. However, as the situation improves, the overall output this year will not be affected much, or will decline by 5%-10. %. The new Civic that was planned to be listed in the second half of this year will be postponed. The availability of listings during the year is still uncertain.

Japan's Honda Motor Co. has stopped accepting distributor orders for Japanese models due to tight supply of parts due to the earthquake in Japan. At the same time, the release of the new CR-V will also be delayed by at least one month. Honda Automobile President Ito Takahiro has revealed that due to the shortage of parts and components, the production line in China is only working at 50% of full capacity, and Honda has adjusted its spare parts inventory in Guangzhou and Wuhan; however, it has not disclosed the adjusted production. How long will the plan be implemented?

Change of specific models: CR-V is currently sold at the guide price, and the order period is one or two months.

FAW Toyota Motor Department cancels the offer

Due to production cuts, the current discounts for FAW Toyota’s full-line models in Beijing have basically been eliminated, and some models still need to increase their prices, or increase the price increase. Dealers said that Corolla, Vios, RAV4 and other major sales models had previously had thousands to 10,000 yuan in discounts, but now all the original price, and the current car is very small. In addition, the waiting time for the current booking has also been lengthened, and it usually takes about 3 months.

In fact, the FAW Toyota's different models were slightly affected. Similar to the global models such as Corolla and RAV4, the demand for the Chinese market may be difficult to meet in time because parts supply needs to meet the global market. The Crown was relatively affected by the earthquake because it was only produced in China and Japan, and the localization rate was higher, reaching more than 80%.

As far as after-sales maintenance is concerned, the current distributors do not feel the impact, but indicate that in the future, some imported spare parts may be out of stock.

[Manufacturer] does not adjust sales target temporarily

Toyota has announced that before June 3, the operating rate of all vehicle factories in China will be adjusted to 50% of normal time, and in extreme cases it may be adjusted to 30%, and the high temperature holiday planned after July will be advanced to May. Early implementation. At present, the FAW Toyota plant has cancelled daily overtime, and the waiting period for some vehicle models will increase.

FAW Toyota’s vice president of sales and sales, said that this year's sales target is still to maintain 550,000 unchanged, once the production resumes, FAW Toyota will try to recover the loss of the first half. FAW Toyota is negotiating with factories in Tianjin and Sichuan to see if there are some positive measures that can be taken to reduce the impact of the earthquake, such as the transfer of purchases, including global procurement.

Dongfeng Nissan will give priority to supply in Beijing

According to the person in charge of a 4S shop in Dongfeng Nissan, when the earthquake just happened, the manufacturer had sent a notice that there may be zero inventory after May 20, because Nissan has 5 factories located 10 km around Fukushima. In the range. However, due to the special sales situation in Beijing this year, Dongfeng Nissan will first guarantee the supply of Beijing, so there is no shortage of goods in the current Beijing market. At present, the stock of the shop is still about 120, but the price is down by a thousand or two. The person in charge does not expect further changes in the supply of subsequent Dongfeng Nissan.

[Manufacturer] gives priority to the Chinese market

Affected by the earthquake in Japan, Dongfeng Nissan had a certain reduction in production in April. It changed from three shifts to two shifts. Starting from May, the production of Dongfeng Nissan has returned to normal and its monthly production capacity has increased to 63,000. The head of Dongfeng Nissan's sales headquarters, Yang Lan, said that the earthquake had little impact on Dongfeng's Nissan, and there would be no long-term, large-area production cuts. Nissan’s senior executives have expressed their priority to meet the demand for parts and components in the Chinese market.

In fact, after the earthquake in Japan, Dongfeng Nissan and the Nissan headquarters initiated an emergency plan for the supply of spare parts, and most Nissan plants have resumed production since March 22. In terms of sales volume, sales of Dongfeng Nissan in March and April were 63,731 and 58,683, respectively, a slight decrease, but the decline was the smallest compared with other Japanese brands.

Guangzhou Automobile Toyota stocks began to strain

Meng Xiangzhen, general manager of Guangfeng Borui Trading Co., Ltd., said that the earthquake caused a significant impact on Guangzhou Auto Toyota’s production in April. Now Toyota is looking for alternative suppliers and gradually resumes production. In May, it has recovered about 50%. It is estimated that it will recover 80% by June and July. “In March, there was a backlog of inventory, so the impact was not reflected immediately. However, after April, supply began to be tight.” Meng Xiangzhen introduced that the discount rate of each model in the store has now begun to shrink, which is reduced by approximately 30%.

[manufacturers] fully recover next month

According to Matsui Hideki, deputy general manager of GAC Toyota, production of GAC Toyota was not affected by the earthquake in Japan in April. Guangfeng passed “a small part of the production adjustment, so that production in April can basically follow the plan.” However, according to Toyota China announced that the summer holiday scheduled to begin in July had advanced to May, and that the factory's operating rate in May was only 50% of normal. It is expected that after the beginning of June, the factory's production capacity will be fully restored to the normal level before the earthquake.

Guangzhou Automobile Honda's best-selling models are tight

Guangzhou Automobile Honda is still quite affected by the earthquake. Within two months, the start-up plan for manufacturers to dealers has been adjusted to 30% of normal time. Some of the more popular models, such as the Accord 2.0L and the Odyssey, began to appear out of stock, and a certain Guangming 4S shop in Beijing even had the Odyssey show cars sold. However, due to the relatively large amount of early-stage inventory, the current fit and front-end inventory is currently not resource-constrained due to the earthquake and is still able to meet the demand.

As far as the discount is concerned, Accord 2.0L prices have obviously rebounded, and the discount is only around 3,000 yuan. The frontier fan can offer 5,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan, and the dealer said there is room for negotiation, but this is still a slight rebound compared to the previous one. Two thousand dollars.

As far as maintenance spare parts are concerned, Guangzhou Automobile's Honda dealerships are not currently feeling the impact. Wang Jingsheng, general manager of Guangqi Honda Lishuiqiao Store, said that due to the high localization rate of Guangzhou Automobile Honda, the impact of the earthquake on maintenance and sales will not be much.

Lexus mentions cars until August

At present, all Lexus models in Beijing have been very tight. The person in charge of the Garden Bridge Lexus store market said that there are currently only more than 10 vehicles left in the car, all of which were produced before the earthquake in Japan, and have been sold out. The next car may not be available until August, so consumers Waiting time will be long. At present, the number of orders in the store is constantly rising. Normally, there are more than 30, but there are currently more than 100, and the number of orders is expected to continue to increase.

As far as prices are concerned, the biggest discount for the current offer is the SUV model. For example, the RX270 could also be offered as small as 10,000 yuan, but now it is basically sold at a flat price. The main-selling ES series was previously available for more than 30,000 yuan, and it has now recovered a small amount.

In respect of competing products, taking the RX270 as an example, its potential competitors are the BMW X3 and the Mercedes-Benz GLK. The supply and prices of these models have not changed significantly, and therefore they have little impact on the RX270.

As far as maintenance spare parts are concerned, because Lexus spare parts store has a large amount of reserves before, it has no effect on after-sales maintenance.

Subaru insists on national uniform price

Zhong Jian Subaru Market Manager Yu Jianzhong introduced that the current purchase has indeed been affected by some, but due to the large number of vehicles reserved before and after the Spring Festival, the current terminal sales are not affected. In terms of price, Subaru has always insisted on the national unified price, and it will not change at present. However, the discounted forms other than cash, such as decorative products and maintenance gifts, will be reduced for some of the main sales models.

For spare parts maintenance, since Subaru has a 7,500-square-meter spare part store in Beijing, it should be no problem to maintain 4 to 6 months. Therefore, the shortage of parts and components will not occur in the short term. As for the subsequent impact, it depends on the Japanese factory. Edge production recovery.

Mitsubishi has no obvious effect

The reporter learned from Mitsubishi Motors Beijing Office last week that Mitsubishi’s production and supply in China have not been affected so much, especially domestic cars. Because the localization rate is relatively high, it is basically not affected by the earthquake in Japan.

Infiniti resumes production in April Cui Yi, head of the Infiniti China brand, said that Infiniti is currently manufacturing in Japan and its factory has resumed production in early April, so there is no impact on supply in the country. As far as spare parts are concerned, the current inventory of parts and components in China can generally last for four months, so there will be no impact on after-sales maintenance.

â–  observe <br> <br> Japanese car firms should be more open

The earthquake in Japan has a very important influence on the impact of these different Japanese car companies. Toyota bears the brunt of this, mainly because its system in Japan is the largest and its distribution is relatively dispersed. On the other hand, Toyota's supply system is relatively unopen. Honda’s impact was also more serious. Nissan and Mazda’s impact was relatively light, mainly due to the fact that the latter two main factories and suppliers were far away from the seismic zone, and Nissan’s merger with Renault had established a global Technology R&D and supply system. The Acura brand is basically not affected by the earthquake because it is only produced in the United States.

Blue River, an automotive marketing expert, believes that the earthquake is an accidental natural disaster. After all, these Japanese car companies are unlikely to transfer the supplier system and R&D system to overseas markets in the short term. Restoration and reconstruction are the top priorities. In addition, Japan itself is a multi-seismic country, and all buildings have a strong anti-seismic capability, and small earthquakes will basically have no major impact.

However, Blue River also said that the impact of the earthquake in Japan can be seen, compared to European and American companies, Japanese car companies are relatively conservative, in order to be "effectively in their own hands," its many core technical departments and key components The supply system is still concentrated in Japan. This makes their joint ventures in China have a stronger dependence, and once the unexpected situation in the Japanese side is very easy to produce a chain reaction.

The earthquake was a warning to these Japanese automakers and their joint ventures in China. Japanese multinational auto makers should establish a more open supply and technical system and truly realize globalization; while joint ventures in China should focus on improving products. The localization rate and the independence of technology can only improve the ability to resist risks.