Repairing vehicles since 1966 - trusted by the UK’s biggest brands
Date: 27th February 2020
The World Health Organisation has branded the escalating coronavirus crisis a pandemic situation with car manufacturer in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, forced to shut down their Chinese factories as a result of the mass quarantine and total lock-down of major towns and cities. The Chinese government has stipulated that production must not resume before 11th March, more than two months later than expected.
Wuhan is known as a “motor city” for being home to a number of auto plants including General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Peugeot Group and Renault. For Honda alone, Wuhan accounts for about 50% of total production in China.
In Japan, a new task-force has been put in place to combat the challenges of Corona Virus on the country’s automotive manufacturing. Their priorities being to centralise information sharing regarding the supply chain within the motor trade and understanding of the situation as well as studying countermeasures.
At the time of writing this article, BP Rolls Group have not yet had any problems sourcing parts, however we are bracing ourselves for impact. Hyundai, the world’s fifth biggest carmaker, has been forced to halt production in South Korea as it had run out of parts from China. While manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan, Fiat Chrysler, PSA and Kia are already reporting shortages and General Motors are expecting it to affect their US production plant imminently.
Meanwhile in Europe, the Italian manufacturer MTA, which makes electrical parts for cars, was forced to close operations at its Codogno plant after local authorities ordered factories in Codogno and nine nearby towns to suspend non-essential activities to help prevent the spread of virus. The company has issued an official note saying that this closure represents an important damage for the company that serves main OEMs globally. MTA said that, not delivering their components will cause the stop of production lines at several manufacturer of passenger cars and off-highway vehicles, stressing that an extension of closure beyond 2 March will cause production disruption at FCA, Renault, BMW, and Peugeot and Jaguar Land Rover, along with lorry makers Iveco and CNH.
BP Rolls would like to reassure customers that for now it is business as usual. Our current inventory is good and we have fantastic working relationships with a variety of parts suppliers and OEMs. We are reviewing what can be done to help mitigate the potential delays and shortages that will undoubtedly occur over the next few months, and will keep our customers updated on the situation in due course.
“We have been advised that components for some brands may be on ‘back-order’ for longer than usual until things get back on track. It’s not unusual for parts to be put on back order when being sourced from overseas; with lean manufacturing not everything is mass produced and some items are made on demand so occasionally we have to work with longer lead times. That said, we are usually advised of an estimated delivery date but in this unique situation suppliers won’t necessarily be able to provide such information.
We will continue to keep our customers regularly updated on the availability of parts and the resulting changes to estimated completion dates, doing everything we can to get you back on the road as soon as possible.”
David Rolls, Managing Director
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