Under the influence of the new coronavirus epidemic, Chinese automakers closed plants in February, and European and American automakers followed in March.
Suspension of production by automakers around the world not only caused a decline in car production, but also affected car sales, which affected the demand for components, especially car panel products.
At present, panel manufacturers have received notices that customers have cut orders or even suspended shipments, Laoyaoba.com quoted industry insiders as saying.
Due to the downturn in the automotive market and the spread of the epidemic, the automotive panel market is full of uncertainty.
Market research firm Sigmaintell predicts that global shipments of in-vehicle display panels will decline to 147Mpcs in 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 7%.
If the OEM's downtime is too long, shipments will continue to decline, and the decline will further expand.
Affected by the epidemic, the car sales market in various regions of the world has fallen sharply.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the production and sales of cars in the Chinese market in March were 1.422 million and 1.43 million respectively, up 399.2% and 361.4% from the previous month, down 44.5% and 43.3% year-on-year, respectively, and the decline was narrower than that of February. And 35.8 percentage points.
From January to March, automobile production and sales completed 3.474 million units and 3.672 million units, respectively, with a year-on-year decrease of 45.2% and 42.4% respectively.
In addition to the Chinese market, sales in Europe and the United States are not optimistic.
According to data from LMC Automotive, among the five mainstream markets in Western Europe, sales in Germany fell by 38% in March, 44% in the UK, 72% in France, 85% in Italy, and 69% in Spain.
The US sales in March also fell by 38.6% to 983,174.
Since the current recovery prospects of the automotive industry are still uncertain, LMC expects that vehicle sales in Western Europe will decline further in the coming months.
Omdia Chief Analyst Wu Youxiang said that in March there were more than 100 automobile manufacturing plants that announced suspension of production due to many factors such as closed management, parts shortage, and lack of work.
With the increase in the resumption rate of the supply chain, panel supply has returned to normal in March, but downstream orders were frozen in March.
According to small and medium-sized panel manufacturers, due to the cessation of production at many car manufacturers, orders for vehicle panel freezes were seen in late March, and customers were notified that orders were reduced or delayed in early April, and some orders even returned to zero.
The chairman of AU Optronics pointed out that the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic has a great impact on the automotive market. In February, mainland car sales were only 1/10 of the past, and the automotive industry chain is long. long.
This year, the mainland car makers were closed, and then in March, European car makers were also closed. The halt of production by car makers around the country also affected the demand for components, especially car panel products.
Cao Qian, a senior analyst at Sigmaintell, also said, "Due to the impact of the epidemic, the global vehicle market has been hit hard. In February, China 's regional sales were slashed. Although there were signs of recovery in China in March, the European and American regions also caused the epidemic. Demand for the vehicle market is suppressed. Sigmaintell predicts that global vehicle sales in the first quarter will be approximately 16.9Mpcs, a year-on-year decrease of 26.4%. Against this background, global vehicle panels in the first quarter have also been greatly affected accordingly. "
"On the demand side, the first quarter was mainly due to a sharp decline in the demand for automotive panels in the Chinese market. Starting in mid-March, Tier1 in Europe and the United States and car manufacturers suspended production due to the epidemic situation, which caused a severe setback in the automotive market in the European and American markets."
Cao Qian said that on the supply side, various panel makers, especially mainland panel makers, were less affected, and the main panel module segment capacity was affected to a certain extent.
At present, the production and supply have become normal, but due to the weak overall demand, the shipment of each panel factory has not reached the predetermined target, and the inventory level is high.
At present, the epidemic situation of new coronaviruses continues to deteriorate in Europe, North America and India, and many car manufacturers have stopped production or converted production of epidemic prevention equipment.
CINNO Research pointed out that in view of the current situation of the epidemic in Europe, America and India, the auto market is unlikely to recover from April to May. Europe, the United States and India, which account for 50% of the global auto market, will experience a sharp decline in sales in the second quarter.
Global auto sales are expected to decline by about 30% in the second quarter, and the impact on the automotive display panel market will gradually ferment.
More From CnEVPost
