The whitelist for resumption of work cannot turn off the red alert of the auto industry

Shanghai, which has been silent for several days, finally ushered in the notice of resumption of work. According to statistics, in the "white list" of the first batch of key resumption enterprises officially announced, a total of 666 enterprises are on the list, including 62 integrated circuit enterprises and 228 automobile-related enterprises.

During the epidemic, although major chip manufacturers such as TSMC, SMIC and Hua Hong did not interrupt production, they were faced with multiple challenges in terms of personnel placement and freight logistics. In the automotive field, if suppliers of supporting parts fail to ship in time, even if SAIC's Lingang plant adopts closed production, it will not be completely spared.

There is no doubt that Shanghai has a firm and resolute attitude in promoting the resumption of work and production. However, considering that the inflection point of the epidemic in Shanghai has not yet appeared, it is still unknown whether the industry's "big effort" can promote production from the front. As for when the full resumption of work and production can be achieved, there have actually been many negative voices in the industry.

The recovery of production capacity is unpredictable

Some companies believe now is not the time to be optimistic, while others are said to have rejected requests to resume work.

A staff member of an auto interior company that has been included in the "white list" for resumption of work said that the company's internal statistics found that less than 40% of the employees qualified for work. Another phenomenon worthy of attention is that for employees who can resume work, even if the company takes the "whitelist" red-headed document and the resumption notice to the community to recruit people, the community property and the neighborhood committee will not approve it.

In fact, this phenomenon has been common since the outbreak of the epidemic. Just like why it is clearly stipulated that epidemic prevention cannot be "one size fits all", but the policy often changes when it is communicated below.

In addition, it is reported that 3M, DuPont, BASF and other foreign-funded enterprises have clearly rejected the Shanghai government's request for resumption of work. However, BASF responded that the news was not true, and said that the company’s factory in Shanghai has maintained closed-loop operations. Although the production load during the lockdown period has decreased, production activities have not been interrupted.

Whether it is closed-loop production or companies waiting to resume work, restoring production capacity is imminent. But the reality is that Shanghai is going through a tough time. In the view of the above-mentioned people, by the end of this week, it is very rare for factories to reach a 30% operating rate, and the large-scale resumption of work may not wait until after May 1st.

Taking auto parts as an example, there are not only international Tier 1s such as Bosch, Aptiv, ZF, Continental, Valeo and Denso that have established factories in Shanghai, but also Fuyao Glass and a group of small-scale local suppliers.

The number of parts required for new energy vehicles is only 20% of that of traditional vehicles, but a shortage of parts will suffocate a factory. Under the development trend of globalization and even nationalization, the silence of Shanghai's auto industry affects the nerves of all parties.