In Changchun, an industrial hub in northeast China, all automakers including Volkswagen Group and Toyota Motor Corp. are required to halt production for at least four days this week.
In Shanghai, China’s largest city, VW Group and Tesla Inc. were ordered to shut down production for two days. The same request may be applied to other automakers and suppliers as the Shanghai government combs one local area after another with mass nucleic acid tests.
Under current mitigation efforts in China, whenever someone tests positive for the coronavirus, all immediate members of the household, neighbors and workplace contacts must quarantine for at least a week.
That has created another major problem, understaffing, for companies in major cities such as Shanghai, even though the city hasn’t imposed a sweeping lockdown.
With a large number of infections detected during tests and even more people quarantined, most auto companies, dealerships and other businesses in Shanghai face staff shortages.
As of Wednesday, the latest coronavirus outbreak has spread to 28 of 31 provinces and municipalities in mainland China.
Unless Beijing relaxes the draconian pandemic control rules, more cities are likely to force local companies to suspend operation and initiate mass testing, dealing another setback to the Chinese economy and disrupting the auto industry’s recovery.
Source: https://www.autonews.com/china-commentary/latest-virus-outbreak-threatens-auto-rebound