Affected by the epidemic, as far away as India, Tata Motors, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover, is also having a hard time. It recently stated that it plans to separate the passenger car business from the truck and bus business. Split off as an independent department within the company. The move is aimed at pushing the company to focus on its two major businesses, passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Tata Motors said in a statement that the spin-off of the passenger car business will help it secure strategic alliances that will provide the company with new products, auto parts, technology and capital.

In terms of performance, due to the slowdown in economic growth, as of February, Indian car sales have declined for 16 consecutive months; but at present, the impact and challenges caused by the shutdown of work and production caused by the epidemic factors to the car companies bigger. It is reported that in order to prevent and control the epidemic, the Indian government has implemented a 21-day nationwide confinement. Currently, many automobile factories in India have suspended production. Tata also announced a few days ago that due to concerns about the epidemic, Maharashtra in western India will The scale of operations at automotive plants in Rashtra is being reduced sharply.

Moody's Investors Service recently put Tata Motors' credit rating on a watch list for downgrade, believing that the company is in urgent need of cash flow to revive sales. Che Tai, managing director of Asia Automotive Intelligence Agency, pointed out: "Spinning off passenger cars is something Tata Motors should have done many years ago. I think that in the current environment, the fundamental challenge facing Tata will be greater than restructuring. ”

The current domestic epidemic in the United States is very serious. As of March 30, Beijing time, the cumulative number of cases in the United States has exceeded 140,000, with nearly 60,000 cases in New York State, which is the most serious. People feel sorry. The shortage of medical equipment such as ventilators caused by the epidemic is serious. Now American industrial giants Boeing, Ford, General Motors, etc. are also "forced" to join the production of the aforementioned equipment...

Local time On the 28th, Trump delivered a speech when bidding farewell to the Navy hospital ship Comfort, which was heading to New York to support the fight against the epidemic: "This week, I invoked the Defense Production Act to force General Motors to fulfill its federal contract (to produce) ventilators. "In the next 100 days, the United States will make or acquire three times as many ventilators as we (under normal circumstances) make in an entire year," Trump said. "We are very prepared." "For U.S. automakers represented by Ford and General Motors, factory workshops and production lines are being transformed to produce ventilators, protective masks, face shields and other important equipment.

While revamping its production lines, Ford also announced its plan to restart production at many North American assembly plants as early as April 6. These factories mainly produce lucrative SUVs, pickups, and commercial trucks. For example, the F-series pickup truck has always been the best-selling model in the United States. Ford obviously does not want to delay the production and sales of these important models too much.

Ford North America President Galhotra said that these factories will adopt strict safety measures to protect returning workers from the impact of the new coronavirus epidemic. According to the announcement, Ford plans to reopen a factory in Mexico, which mainly produces Ford Fusion (Mondeo) and Lincoln MKZ sedans, on April 6; it will resume operations in Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio in the United States on April 14. Four pickup, SUV and commercial truck plants.

The epidemic also brought about financial problems, and Ford decided to postpone the payment of some wages. According to foreign media reports, Ford Motor Executive Chairman Bill Ford’s full salary will be deferred, and Ford CEO Jim Hackett, COO Jim Farley, CFO Thi Tim Stone will defer 50% of his salary to further save money during the epidemic.

On March 20, Ford Motor announced that it would activate US$13.4 billion (approximately RMB 95 billion) under Ford Motor Company’s credit line and US$2 billion (approximately RMB 95 billion) under Ford Motor Credit Company’s credit line. Total RMB 14.1 billion). The additional cash will be used primarily to offset the temporary working capital impact of production shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Ford is working with 3M and GE Healthcare to help increase production of much-needed medical supplies, including medical equipment such as face masks, powered air respirators and ventilators.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.