Geshi Auto News? According to foreign media reports, up to now, more than 3,000 people have died in novel coronavirus, and the epidemic situation shows no signs of abating. At the same time, the epidemic has had an unexpected impact on the global supply chain of emerging technologies such as electric vehicles.
In February this year, the overall car sales in China, the world's largest electric vehicle market, dropped sharply. According to the preliminary data of China Passenger Car Association, the domestic retail volume of passenger cars in China was about 252,000 in February, down 85.3% from the previous month and 78.5% from the same period last year. The wholesale sales volume of new energy passenger cars 1. 1 10,000 vehicles decreased by 77.7% year-on-year and 70% quarter-on-quarter. According to Reuters, BYD's sales of electric vehicles decreased by 79.5% last month. The sales volume of new energy of BAIC decreased by 65.1%year-on-year; Sales of Volkswagen's electric vehicle partner JAC decreased by 63.4%.
(Source: BYD official website)
At the same time, the uncertainty caused by the epidemic caused the oil price to plummet, the biggest drop since the Gulf War 199 1. The New York Mercantile Exchange's crude oil futures price once reached $30 a barrel this week. Usually, when the prices of crude oil and natural gas fall, people's interest in electric vehicles will decline, and the sales of electric vehicles will also slow down. Analysts pointed out that the fall in oil prices was a factor in the decline in Tesla's share price this week. The epidemic also led to the temporary closure of Tesla's super factory in Shanghai and stores across the country.
In addition, the epidemic has also led to the postponement or cancellation of several international auto shows, which were originally the stage for global automakers to showcase a new generation of electric vehicles. Last week, Fiat showed off 500 pure electric vehicles in Milan before Italy declared a state of emergency, regardless of people's concerns. But other automakers chose to publish online.
Gm also announced yesterday (March 10) that due to the epidemic situation, it will cancel the plan to release the pure electric Cadillac crossover Lyriq next month. A spokesperson for the company said that Cadillac is reassessing its plan to launch the Lyriq model, but the model will not be released at the Los Angeles event scheduled for April 2.
At the same time, the epidemic has aggravated the troubles caused by the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs on China goods (including 25% tariffs on electric bicycles, electric motorcycles, electric scooters and electric skateboards). Last week, this pressure led to Boosted, the main manufacturer of electric skateboards? The board dismissed most of the employees.
The supply chain of electric vehicles is most affected. Many car manufacturers have been trying to provide batteries for electric vehicles. In addition, cobalt and lithium are important components of electric vehicle batteries. China is a global leader in refining cobalt materials and a major supplier of lithium materials in the world. However, the epidemic led to the closure of some cobalt processing plants, and China lithium producer Ganfeng Lithium also raised its price, but the increase was less than 10%. However, the continuing impact of the epidemic may affect the cost of electric vehicles.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.