COVID-19 Update: ARGO Tractors Resumes Manufacturing

News: Regions

2020-05-23

COVID-19 Update: ARGO Tractors Resumes Manufacturing

Production has resumed in ARGO Tractors plants after being shut down for almost two months.  Different measures were put in place in order to comply with government health regulations.  In April ARGO started to sanitize the factories and prepare to resume operations.  Protection equipment is distributed to workers who must keep social distancing and whose temperature is registered at the entrance of the factories. 

Source: Argo Tractors      Read The Article

Source: PSR OE Link™

PSR Analysis: The prolonged halt in production and the continuous uncertainty related to the development of the coronavirus pandemic had a significant impact on the global agricultural industry and on ARGO tractor volumes.   Despite that, with the re-opening of the production lines the Italian OEM was able to address the orderbook received before the start of the lockdown, and at the same time, collect new orders. 

According to our forecast, we expect production to be down 16% this year.  However, this performance might turn a bit less bitter if the current pandemic evolution does not result in a second wave of lockdowns in the coming months. PSR

Emiliano Marzoli is Senior-Business Development Manager-Europe

DATAPOINT: NA Personal Watercraft (PWC) 2020 Forecast: 88,300 Units

The 88,300 units is the estimate by Power Research of the number of Personal Watercraft (PWC) to be produced in North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States) in 2020.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

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COVID-19 Cuts Results at Harley-Davidson, Polaris

Harley-Davidson Q1 2020 Sales Plunge 15.5%

Harley-Davidson said US sales were up 6.6% in the quarter before the pandemic ground the economy to a halt in mid-March. But sales wound up plunging 15.5% in America compared to a year ago and 20.7% internationally. Overall revenue slipped 8% from last year’s first quarter.

For the quarter, Harley-Davidson posted earnings of $69.7 million compared with $127.9 million in the same period a year ago.

Michael Aistrup
Michael Aistrup

Harley-Davidson’s share in the U.S. heavyweight motorcycle market share was down 2.2 percentage points, to 48.9% and the company’s share of the heavyweight motorcycle market in Europe was 7.6% in the first quarter.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Harley has reduced planned capital spending, frozen hiring, temporarily reduced salaries, eliminated merit increases for employees in 2020 and changed the timing of new product launches in order to preserve $250 million in 2020.

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A New Class of Hybrids

The word “hybrid” in the power generation universe has generally been understood to mean a fossil-fuel engine supplemented by another power source, usually a renewable.

Tyler Wiegert
Tyler Wiegert

Then, the word grew to include vehicles and equipment that ran primarily on battery power but could be switched to a smaller engine that would recharge the battery while it ran.

Now, we are entering a time when “hybrid” includes drive systems that are primarily renewable-based and supplemented by an additional renewable system.

In this sphere, alternative power has primarily meant batteries and hydrogen fuel cells; one of the major impediments to wide adoption has always been range.

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2020-05-15

Brazilian Production and Sales of Commercial Vehicles Won’t Recover Until 2021

Power Systems Research analyzes markets of trucks, buses, agricultural and construction machines

Brazil deaths caused by coronavirus increased sharply in April and May 2020.

Slump Caused by COVID-19 Will Last into 2021

The overall slump in production and sales of heavy commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) as well as for agricultural and construction machines should last throughout this year; these segments won’t recover until 2021.  PSR

Automotive Business – April 2020 – English version

JAPAN REPORT: The Impact of COVID-19 on Manufacturers

Japanese OEMs are struggling to adapt to the COVID-19 problem. Plants are being temporarily shut down and production adjustments are being made.

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

While domestic plants are generally operating quietly, overseas bases are being affected in various ways, depending on the country. Here is a summary of announcements by the major companies.

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TAIWAN REPORT: No New Coronavirus Cases

April 17, 2020–Taiwan reported no new coronavirus cases on April 14, 2020, marking the first-time authorities there have reported zero new cases in more than a month. It’s also the latest achievement for a health system that first acted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in December.

Erik Martin
Erik Martin

With a population of around 23 million, Taiwan has only 393 confirmed COVID-19 cases; six people have died from the disease. The last time Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center announced no new cases was on March 9 – 36 days ago.

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Impact of COVID-19 in India on Engine-driven Applications

As of today, India is relatively less impacted by COVID than other nations. Because of the very bold and unprecedented move of a complete lockdown for about 40 days, India has managed to restrict the number of positive cases to 17,000.

Ritvik Kulkarni
Ritvik Kulkarni

Considering that India is a country with a population of over 1 billion persons living in challenging on-ground conditions, it is a phenomenal effort of proactive and timely response from the government as well as restraint observed by citizens.

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China Delays Nationwide NS 6 Regulation

The Ecology and Environment Ministry is extending the transition period for OEMs and the sales period for NS 5 inventory products.

Source: China Central Television      Read The Article

PSR Analysis:

So here comes the impact of coronavirus for the industry.  But what we should bear in mind is that despite this latest news, the capital metro area, the Yangtze delta area and the Zhujiang River Delta area, three of the most prosperous areas in China, have already implemented NS 6 regulation. 

These regions can’t roll back their policy. If any OEMs not ready to go NS 6, they should do it now.  COVID-19 buys some time, but it won’t be so forever.    PSR

Qin Fen is Business Development Manager