As the top three U.S. auto enterprises have been caught up in the economic crisis, the whole auto industrial chain is suffering from the impact, including some companies run by Chinese people. In Detroit, the city most famous for its close association with the auto industry, some Chinese auto parts suppliers are seeing shrinking orders.
Zheng Jun has operated his auto parts store in Detroit for six years and achieved great performance, doing more than eight-million US dollars of business per year. Zheng Jun also has a factory in Shanghai and more than ten domestic suppliers. But when the U.S. auto makers fell into trouble amid the financial crisis, orders began to shrink. Zheng Jun's company has seen orders decrease by 35-percent since August last year.
Zheng Jun, General Manager of Promax Engineering Company said "Auto makers stopped producing some models several months ago, so we have no orders for their parts."
Zheng Jun has had to cut employees' working time and salaries to deal with the difficulties. General Motors' bankruptcy protection added to Zheng's worries. Under the protection, GM may not pay arrearages to its first-level suppliers. So as a second-level supplier, Zheng Jun may not get his money either.
Zheng Jun said "One of our customers has owed my company money for a long time. He tried to pay, but he is also trapped in this trouble. We have no choice, and may have to take legal action, but who knows how much money we will get."
In Detroit, there are nearly 30 auto parts suppliers run by Chinese people, and all have been impacted by the U.S. auto industry crisis.
(CCTV June 4, 2009)
