fabbrisd1

Okay - let me shoot straight here - in Euro both Italy and France - both countries are entirely locked down.

On the Daimler side - the MB factories are closing by this weekend - Magna Steyr will close this weekend - in essence European auto production for all brands is shutting down - stopping the supply chain from parts-assembly-shipment-inventory

Read the news - this is a EXCEPTIONAL WORLD WIDE EVENT - this will not go well - and this will NOT end early.

Now - your MB Dealer at any point can only report what they see in Netstar - and what NetStar says now - will be what NetStar says until two things both happen -

1) factories re-open

2) and if Mercedes chooses to update NetStar - and note with severe production delays here with SUV's in the US earlier this year - either MB choose NOT to update NetStar - or as many believe (including me) it's not possible to reset/update the full NetStar platform for ANY model.

Guy's - this will need to work itself out - if someone today thinks their G-Wagen is being built in April - no way - it will NOT happen until #1 and #2 above happen.

For my customer's - upfront yesterday/today I am advising customers with production order's now in NetStar - any model - that their delivery date is uncertain and will have major slippage but will be model year 2020 - and pre-order's in queue with me and not in assigned production date - again any model - are subject to severe slippage and will most likely become model year 2021.

At the moment - I consider model year 2021 at best to be a "late start" - and we will not know for quite a while what that "late start" will be.

For what it's worth - I am shooting straight from what I see from where I sit - and from what I am told "on a personal basis" from my friends both in Germany and Graz.

Uvamack

Fabbrisd1, thanks so much for the detailed information.

alistairg

@fabbrisd1 thankyou so much for the honest and upfront detail.

Do you know what they're doing with built vehicles that are either on ships, or working their way through the VPCs? Are those shutting down also, or are they clearing that pipe?
That's an awful lot of stalled dealer revenue...

poison123

I really hope you are wrong, because after my dealer ****ing up my Feb Delivery Order I might be done with Merc. I'm not waiting past June/July at this point.

CClement

I guess we just wait. I'm not complaining, these are first world problems worrying about when our Gs will arrive. I'll be happy when it gets here and in the meantime, everyone needs to take care of themselves and those around them.

fabbrisd1

The question on "on-the-boat-now" - if US Port's are open - they will unload - and as of today both Port to VPC and VPC-to-Truck/Rail is running.

Bob Z.

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: Plant is closed until at least April 6th.

Bexlee

Thanks Bob Edited OP too :-)

Bob Z.

iTrader: (1)

This articles updates often so one can find out the latest from most manufacturers in Europe: https://europe.autonews.com/automake...plant-closings

pateljb

I think the bigger problem for all manufacturers will be their supply chains which will be the rate limiting step in the equation.

Just my $0.02

Bob Z.

iTrader: (1)

Exactly - until all parts are available a vehicle cannot be produced no matter how many people you have to screw them together. I predict production will ramp back up by May 1st, and then those of us with orders will find out how much of a delay to expect.

NikBenz1

My G63 build is scheduled for 2nd decade of April. It will be interesting to see what kind of delays we get. As we've been reading, a lot of customers are cancelling their orders. Might mean the car will come sooner than expected? My ETA was end of May/early June which is good for me, not any sooner. I wonder what's going to happen with their production. Thanks for the info!

Bob Z.

iTrader: (1)

Now it appears that production may start after Easter: https://industriemagazin.at/a/magna-...der-hochfahren

fabbrisd1

Man, it is reasonable to expect end-May - even end-June - then you have July factory Holiday - it isn't pretty..

spourreza

you would think they would skip the factory holiday in this situation and work to catch up since the factory has already been on a holiday since closing 🤬

poison123

I believe those are national holidays...so by law.....they have to give them.

CClement

Magna Steyr plans to ramp up production in Graz again soon

Car maker and supplier Magna wants to ramp up production in Graz in a few days - but for now only prototype construction. Series production does not start until after Easter.
Protective masks are compulsory throughout the factory, and protective walls are placed between employees during the snack.

Even if this happens, I wonder if they have an adequate supply of parts to produce most vehicles or if it will depend on the model? For example, the plant ceased
production March 17th, the week before my G550 build. I'm guessing that given my vehicle was just about set for production and I'm sure that these plants
carry parts on hand for at least a buffer of production time/units, might be ok. Given vehicles were being completed right up to the shutdown, I'm sure they have stock on parts for
at least a couple of months (maybe), and maybe more given the number of cancellations I have been hearing about. I guess we will see in a week if this actually happens
or whether an update comes out this week with a further push-back in terms of date. Also, from what I've experienced, I've seen shipping times have increased
worldwide, not sure if this is factor for vehicle ship transport but wouldn't surprise me. 6 weeks from production date to delivery is likely much too optimistic at this point.
Mid-late April production date likely wouldn't see until late June to the dealer at best I believe.

spourreza

if that is the case, then my late 2020 model may convert to a 2021 unless they delay the 2021 model to finish all 2020 orders

poison123

Thats not how it works. I believe all the germans practice "just in time" for parts delivery. So basically the parts might be there 1-2 weeks before the build happens.....thats how porsche does it.

CClement

Makes sense to use just in time, but hoping at least 1-2 weeks stock so there is a chance they can finish my G once production starts up. If they are waiting for the supply chain to be fully up and running again, could be one long wait for all.

poison123

I can already tell you through the company I work for, the supply chain period for EMEA is completely screwed. If its not essential at this point its low pri to get moved.

CClement

Ya makes sense. Not a big deal either way, no rush for an expensive vehicle during these times. Whether it's June, July, Fall...doesn't really have matter. I'm sure we will have better clarity in the next 1-2 months, hopefully at least.

poison123

Ya just sucks....getting the feeling its going to be a year since my order with the screw up

CClement

Ya it does. I'm still a little confused though, if the supply chain of parts is pretty much non-existent currently, why would Magna even say they will begin production again. Production of what?

Bexlee

I’m not sure how everything goes in Graz but I do know the electric cars production there has stopped so maybe some others have taken priority??

my second point is that my other half owns a body shop and orders parts, tyres , protective equipment etc. He’s so far had no issue getting any stock at all. In fact the places are overrun with stock and are constantly trying to sell more as they have to take ‘x’ amount of units per month and they can’t deviate from that.

lastly - cancelled orders etc could easily help keep vehicles close (ish) to estimate delivery dates.

It’s so hard to say- all we really know is ... they will arrive (eventually) lol