According to foreign media reports, RBC Capital Markets predicted that the outbreak of the new crown virus and its chain reaction to consumer demand could lead to a 16% drop in global auto production in 2020, while U.S. auto sales will drop 20% this year.

As a result of the spread of covid-19 virus, the share price of automobile manufacturers fell more than other industries. Shares of U.S. - listed companies have fallen about 30% to 40% this month, with a double-digit decline on March 16 alone.

Tesla is the only U.S. automaker whose stock price hasn't turned red compared with the beginning of the year, still up 6.4%. However, Tesla saw the biggest drop this month compared with general motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Tesla ended down 18.6% on March 16, with the stock down 40.2% for the month.

On March 16, FCA announced that it would close most of its plants in Europe. Since March this year, FCA's share price has fallen 36.3%, down 21.6% to $7.86 on March 16. Ford and GM have both fallen more than 30% this month. The three stocks all hit new lows of nearly 52 weeks on March 16.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down nearly 3000 points, or 12.9%, at 20188.52 on March 16. The standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12% to 2386.13, its lowest level since December 2018, while the Nasdaq composite index closed down 12.3% to 6904.59, its worst day ever.

At first, the covid-19 virus brought supply and demand problems to Chinese automakers. However, as the outbreak spread to other countries, including the United States, it quickly raised concerns about the global recession and falling consumption and demand.

RBC said it expects global car production to fall by 16%, largely from a "demand perspective", such as China, the world's largest consumer of cars, which has halved sales so far this year.

On the morning of March 16, RBC's Joseph spark wrote in a memo to investors: "we expect a recovery later this year, before which the United States may be similarly affected."

RBC forecasts that U.S. car sales will fall 20% to 13.5 million this year. At the beginning of this year, many had predicted that sales in the United States would be between 16.5 million and 17 million vehicles this year.