The head of Chinese electric car maker Xpeng believes that the closure of Shanghai could have major consequences. Norwegian importers are however not worried, E24 writes.
Last week, Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng wrote on WeChat, “If suppliers in Shanghai and the surrounding areas do not find a way to resume operations and production, all China’s car manufacturers may have to stop production in May,”
The comments come as the city of Shanghai is in its third week of covid-19 lockdown and the restrictions have created problems for the important port and supply chains out of town.
Several factories have also had to close after the authorities introduced measures at the end of March.
The Xpeng CEO added that some ministries and government agencies are already working to resolve the situation and that he hopes more can contribute.
Xpeng is one of several Chinese car manufacturers that have invested heavily in electric cars and delivers models such as G3 and P7 to the Norwegian market. But although the Chinese electric car head believes that a further closure of Shanghai could have major consequences for the country’s car industry, there is little concern to be found among those who import Chinese cars to Norway.
Rune Gjerstad from Motorgruppen, an importer of Xpeng to Norway, says to E24, “For our part, regarding the stock and sales situation we do not believe there will be a big problem here locally if production of Xpeng has to be stopped in May.” We have cars in stock that can be delivered within a week, Rune Gjerstad adds.
RSA, which imports electric cars from Maxus and BYD also does not have any concerns about the delivery situation going forward. “Absolutely not. We really expect it to get better in May and June,” says Espen Kristoffersen, brand manager for Maxus at RSA.
He says they have close contact with the factories in China, and explains that they expect an improvement in terms of access to computer chips and raw materials for things like batteries.
The situation in Shanghai is currently challenging, Espen Kristoffersen acknowledges. The challenges for Maxus for example concern logistics and transport through the city and in the port because the factory is located outside Shanghai. Epsen Kristoffersen emphasizes that they also have cars in stock, and will be able to deliver cars this spring.
“We have always had cars on the way, and will receive around a thousand cars in April from China. Our delivery time has been between a few weeks to three to four months and that has been very okay,” Espen Kristoffersen says.
