(Yicai Global) April 1 -- China’s car manufacturers and dealers are having to find alternative ways to do business as a new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic impacts their operations, with many stores shifting their focus online and factories implementing closed-loop operations.

The latest wave of the pandemic hurt automobile sales last month, with shipments dropping 10 percent in the first four weeks of March from the same period in February, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, told Yicai Global.

Those automakers at the heart of the latest outbreaks, like Changchun, northern Jilin province-based FAW Group and Shanghai-headquartered SAIC Motor, are particularly badly affected, he said. But there is no need to be too pessimistic as many manufacturers and dealers are finding new ways to keep operations going.

Visitors to dealerships have plummeted, forcing stores to change their sales methods and shift their focus online, a car salesperson told Yicai Global.

“I stayed at home for five days during quarantine and sold four cars,” a dealer in Shanghai said. He started to contact potential buyers over the phone or with social messenger WeChat instead of meeting them in the store.

The dealer was able to organize test drives at the doorstep of potential buyers and with close communication could help them place orders online. The new approach won him four sales and the title of ‘excellent salesperson’ at the store.

A Geely dealership in Shanghai also offers doorstep test drive services, a salesperson said. A BYD outlet in Shenzhen does not offer such services but had staff members available in the store to offer test drives even at the height of the pandemic, another employee said.

Automakers need to coordinate closely with their suppliers to keep operating normally. SAIC General Motors’ Shanghai plant and FAW Volkswagen’s Changchun factory are operating in a closed loop to tackle the coronavirus, Yicai Global learned. French car parts supplier Valeo has also introduced closed-loop management in plants that are in places with serious outbreaks.

However, FAW’s Changchun plant, as well as the Volkswagen, Audi and Toyota joint ventures, stopped production last month and have yet to reopen. SAIC Volkswagen’s Shanghai plant also suspended part of its capacity yesterday.        

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor