China’s Auto Output to Drop 15% on Virus Blow, Top Supplier Says
China’s Auto Output to Drop 15% on Virus Blow, Top Supplier Says
(Bloomberg) -- Automakers probably will dial back production by 15% in China this quarter after extending holiday shutdowns due to the potentially deadly coronavirus, a top supplier said.
Aptiv Plc, which makes safety and electrification systems for customers including Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co., issued the projection along with quarterly earnings results Thursday. The company expects its own production to be down 11% from a year ago.
“It’s a fairly fluid situation, as you might imagine,” Chief Financial Officer Joseph Massaro told analysts on the earnings call. He said the effect the virus has on the industry will depend on “the dislocation of labor that went home for the holidays, and how quickly they can all come back -- either from a practical perspective or from a government-mandate perspective.”
With a market capitalization of about $22.2 billion, Aptiv is the most valuable U.S.-listed auto supplier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gabrielle Coppola in New York at gcoppola@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Melinda Grenier, Cécile Daurat
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