Chongqing's auto industry chain nears full capacity

After the extended Spring Festival holiday due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, 84.5 percent of vehicle manufactures in the Liangjiang New Area, in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, had resumed work by Feb 23.

At Changan Ford, the manufacture produced its first vehicle after the holiday on Feb 19, which was also the first one produced in Liangjiang New Area, and officials said that at the same time Changan Ford's 130 vehicle parts suppliers in Chongqing had resumed work.

A spokesman said that currently 80 percent of production capacity at Changan Ford had been achieved and the problems in supply chain were basically alleviated, as the company had stocks of vehicle parts for one month of vehicle production.

As one of Changan Ford's suppliers, Yujiang Die Casting has provided over 1,000 core parts, such as control valves for automatic transmission, since resuming work on Feb 19.

Chongqing BND PUSH Auto Parts Co, another supplier of Changan Ford, resumed work on Feb 17 and is major in automobile parts with a daily output of 250 sets.

To avoid people gathering and reduce the risk of virus infection, the company purchased 86 industrial robots and improved its level of automation to 85 percent.

This means that the assembly, product testing and mold transportation is now finished by robots.