Corona virus paralyses the car industry
Leaders from South Africa’s largest vehicle manufacturers gathered in March to discuss measures to mitigate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides the government closure of the plants, manufacturers expect new vehicle sales to decline over the next decade. Car dealers are worried because of a sharp decline in sales and fears that it will take several years before sales around the world, including in South Africa, return to normal. Due to the mandatory lockdown, new vehicles will henceforth be launched through press releases – until there is certainty that the pandemic has been curbed. The launch of Suzuki’s S-Presso was cancelled at the last minute and was the first vehicle to be launched digitally in South Africa on 18 March. The Kia Sorento followed on 19 March, and the digital launch of the new Toyota Corolla took place on 25 March. At the time of going to print, however, BMW in America decided not to stop work at its huge Spartanburg plant in South Carolina. This is in the midst of the closure of beaches, schools and universities in that state. The Spartanburg plant builds the X3, X5 and X7, which are all important models for the company. All BMW’s plants in Europe were closed due to the pandemic as well as South Africa’s Rosslyn plant that manufactures the popular X4. MercedesBenz in the US also wanted to stay open and continue operations, but their parts supply dried up at the end of March after subcontractors and the German parent company closed. Automakers such as Tesla, General Motors and Ford are now considering building medical respirators as car manufacturing is likely to decline over the next few years, while COVID-19 could continue to spread. GM and Ford are in official talks with the US and UK governments about the feasibility of the plan, while Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla is also willing to help. Kia announced on Wednesday, 25 March that its Yancheng plant in China has been adjusted to make masks because of the global shortage. Its plants in Georgia, America, Slovakia and India were closed when we went to print. Chinese carmaker Geely has devised a virus-resistant way to deliver new vehicles to customers: people don’t have to visit a car dealership to get their new drive; you simply order your vehicle on Geely’s website, electronically complete the transaction and your sterilised vehicle is delivered to your door. A drone brings the key to your home minutes before delivery. American motor-racing organisation Nascar hosted its first digital race: the eNascar Pro Invitational Series. Drivers got behind the wheel of digital racing cars and competed on a digital racetrack. The race was broadcast on the online video
game service iRacing. Formula 1 drivers are also turning to digital racing and British driver Lando Norris competed against Valeri Bottas of Mercedes and Nicholas Latifi of Williams in March this year. This race was watched by 170 000 people on Twitch. In positive news, Reuters news agency reports that work at the Donfeng car plant in Wuhan, China, has resumed. Wuhan was the home of the latest coronavirus outbreak, but the World Health Organization has determined that the disease is under control in that city. Donfeng is building the Peugeot Landtrek bakkie we reported on last month.