{"id":25076,"date":"2020-04-01T14:47:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T18:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=25076"},"modified":"2020-04-01T14:47:33","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T18:47:33","slug":"as-u-s-auto-plants-remain-idle-chinas-are-open-again-for-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/as-u-s-auto-plants-remain-idle-chinas-are-open-again-for-business","title":{"rendered":"As U.S. auto plants remain idle, China&#8217;s are open again for business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\">While COVID-19 has stopped auto assembly lines across North America, Chinese plants are revving up again after closing there in late January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">Major\u00a0automakers from General Motors\u00a0to BMW to Toyota say their factories\u00a0in China\u00a0have reopened, including the virus epicenter in the\u00a0Wuhan province.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SmBl6Kn-6EY\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/58445c2a-e3a3-4e22-941d-70d624b2fa9b-china_volvo-polestar2.jpg?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A worker assembles a Polestar 2 EV in Luqiao, China. Volvo has begun production of the all-new car which will be exported to Europe and the U.S. It is key to the automaker's electrification plans.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/58445c2a-e3a3-4e22-941d-70d624b2fa9b-china_volvo-polestar2.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/58445c2a-e3a3-4e22-941d-70d624b2fa9b-china_volvo-polestar2.jpg\" \/>A worker assembles a Polestar 2 EV in Luqiao, China. Volvo has begun production of the all-new car which will be exported to Europe and the U.S. It is key to the automaker&#8217;s electrification plans.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Polestar)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The openings include key product startups from Volvo and Tesla. The Chinese-owned Swedish automaker flipped the switch this week on its all-new Polestar 2, a key car in its global electrification strategy. Tesla has reportedly returned to full production at its all-new Shanghai factory producing the Model 3 sedan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cWe start production now under these challenging circumstances with a strong focus on the health and safety of our people,&#8221;\u00a0said Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath.\u00a0&#8220;This is a great achievement and the result of huge efforts from the staff in the factory and the team securing the supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">As coronavirus\u00a0cases ballooned\u00a0in the U.S. over the last two weeks, all 46 assembly plants in the U.S., foreign and domestic,\u00a0were\u00a0shut down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">China\u2019s bounceback comes as COVID-19 cases have\u00a0declined from their peak in late January. Daily life there has returned to normal with restaurants and auto dealerships re-opened.\u00a0Two of the world\u2019s largest automakers, GM and Toyota, report that production is now back to full tilt.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SmBl6KnSI5o\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/29851628-107a-471f-8f9b-6d3b972bd3db-china_gm-plant.jpg?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"GM has resumed production in its Jinqiao North Assembly Plant in China. The facility is located outside of Shanghai and produces Cadillac and Buicks for the Chinese market.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/29851628-107a-471f-8f9b-6d3b972bd3db-china_gm-plant.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/29851628-107a-471f-8f9b-6d3b972bd3db-china_gm-plant.jpg\" \/>GM has resumed production in its Jinqiao North Assembly Plant in China. The facility is located outside of Shanghai and produces Cadillac and Buicks for the Chinese market.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: GM)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cOur plants in China have resumed production on a staggered basis, including the two plants in Wuhan,\u201d said a GM representative. \u201cOnly three out of 13 plants in China haven\u2019t started production yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Plants like\u00a0Jinqiao North Assembly outside Shangahia are applying\u00a0strict cleansing guidelines and workers are required to wear face masks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Employees in China went on break Jan. 25 for the Chinese New Year,\u00a0two weeks after China recorded its first coronavirus-related death. They were then\u00a0told not to return to work as the disease\u00a0spread. GM began preparing for plants to reopen the week of Feb.\u00a010.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Toyota, the world\u2019s second-biggest automaker behind Volkswagen, has resumed normal operations in China with all regular shifts and production lines up to speed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Other automakers including VW, Nissan, Hyundai\u00a0and Honda reopened plants in mid-February.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SmBl6KmK3Jk\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/63369bfd-84b7-44b3-96cb-e1518467ac1e-china_volvo-chengdu-polestar1.jpg?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Volvo production in China has restarted. In Chengdu, Volvo makes the Polestar 1, the halo supercar for its Polestar electric brand. Production is scheduled for 500 units a year.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/63369bfd-84b7-44b3-96cb-e1518467ac1e-china_volvo-chengdu-polestar1.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/27\/PDTN\/63369bfd-84b7-44b3-96cb-e1518467ac1e-china_volvo-chengdu-polestar1.jpg\" \/>Volvo production in China has restarted. In Chengdu, Volvo makes the Polestar 1, the halo supercar for its Polestar electric brand. Production is scheduled for 500 units a year.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Polestar)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Volvo\u2019s Polestar startup \u2014 a separate electric brand \u2014 is crucial to the company as it seeks to meet European and Chinese emissions demands while also appealing to an anticipated new generation of luxury-EV customers inspired by Tesla.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The fastback EV is scheduled to arrive in Europe this summer, and then in the U.S. with a starting price of\u00a0about $65,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Tesla&#8217;s Shanghai factory, its first outside the U.S., has been a showcase of government-business\u00a0cooperation. Determined that China lead the world\u2019s EV revolution, the government exempted the company from the national 10% sales tax. China provided extensive assistance to Tesla \u2014\u00a0including 10,000 face masks \u2014 to help it reopen the first day after the new year shutdown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The government \u201cwill make all efforts to help key companies including Tesla return to normal production,\u201d Xu Wei, a representative\u00a0 the Shanghai municipal government, said at a briefing in February.\u00a0Tesla began delivering Model 3s to customers in China just one year after it broke ground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">It is unclear when U.S. plants might start rolling again. GM said Thursday its plants are shut indefinitely. Ford\u00a0and Fiat Chrysler said they could reopen their U.S. facilities as early as April 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While COVID-19 has stopped auto assembly lines across North America, Chinese plants are revving up again after closing there in late January. Major\u00a0automakers from General Motors\u00a0to BMW to Toyota say their factories\u00a0in China\u00a0have reopened, including the virus epicenter in the\u00a0Wuhan province. A worker assembles a Polestar 2 EV in Luqiao, China. Volvo has begun production [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25077,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25076\/revisions\/25077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}