(Reuters) – Automakers are halting production at plants across Europe as they grapple with a coronavirus and diving demand.
Here is a list of their announcements:
BMW
The German company said on March 18 it was preparing to suspend production at plants in Europe and Rosslyn, South Africa, until April 19, responding to lower demand and to help reduce risk of contagion. The shutdowns will start at the end of the week.
FERRARI
– Luxury carmaker Ferrari said on March 14 it was closing its two plants until March 27 in response to the coronavirus outbreak in Italy and an emerging shortage of parts.
FIAT-CHRYSLER
– Fiat Chrysler said on March 16 it was halting production for two weeks at its Italian plants of Melfi, Pomigliano, Cassino, Mirafiori, Grugliasco and Modena as well as Serbia’s Kragujevac facilities and Poland’s Tychy plant.
– The company has again halted operations at its Atessa plant in Italy, citing parts supply disruptions linked to the virus outbreak.
FORD
– Ford said on March 17 it was temporarily suspending vehicle and engine production at manufacturing sites in continental Europe in response to virus impact. It expects the action from March 19 to continue for a number of weeks.
– The Ford vehicle manufacturing sites in Cologne and Saarlouis in Germany, together with the Craiova facility in Romania, will halt production temporarily from March 19, the carmaker said.
– Ford said its Valencia assembly and engine facility in Spain temporarily halted production from March 16, after three workers were confirmed with the virus. Only essential work, such as maintenance and security, will continue on-site.
– Ford said on March 15 it would shut its Valencia plant in eastern Spain for a week after three employees tested positive.
PSA GROUP
– French carmaker PSA, which owns the Peugeot, Opel and Vauxhall brands, said on March 16 it was closing its European factories until March 27.
– TPSA, a joint venture of PSA and Toyota <7203.T>, said on March 18 it would suspend production in the Czech Republic a week ahead of plan.
RENAULT
– Renault said on March 16 it was shutting production at industrial facilities in France, affecting 12 sites and 18,000 workers.
– Renault said on March 17 it would also close factories in Spain.
– Romanian carmaker Dacia, owned by Renault, will stop production at its Mioveni plant until April 5, it said on March 18.
VOLKSWAGEN GROUP
– Volkswagen said it was suspending production at sites in Europe. Of 124 production sites worldwide, 72 are in Europe, and 28 in Germany.
– VW said it was suspending production in Wolfsburg, Emden, Dresden, Osnabrck, Zwickau, Bratislava, Pamplona, Spain, Palmela and Portugal, as well as at components factories in Braunschweig, Chemnitz, Hannover, Kassel, Salzgitter and its Wolfsburg-based seats plant SITECH.
– Volkswagen said on March 17 it would halt production at factories in Spain, Setubal in Portugal, Bratislava in Slovakia and the Lamborghini and Ducati plants in Italy by the end of the week.
– Czech brand Skoda said on March 17 it would start shutdowns at domestic plants on March 18.
– Audi
– VW said on March 18 it would halt production at three plants in Poland for at least two weeks.
DAIMLER
– The owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand on Tuesday said it would suspend most of its production in Europe for two weeks to try to rein in the virus.
– “The suspension applies to Daimler’s car, van and commercial vehicle plants in Europe and will start this week,” the Stuttgart-based carmaker said.
– Global supply chains cannot be maintained now to their full extent, it said, adding that the economic impact of the virus on Daimler could not be adequately determined or reliably quantified at this time.
NISSAN <7201.T>
– Nissan has ceased production at Britain’s biggest car factory as it assesses supply chain disruption and the drop in market demand, the Japanese carmaker said on March 17.
– The company stopped vehicle production at European plants, it said on March 18.
TOYOTA
– Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> said it had stopped operations at plants in Britain and Poland from Wednesday, while its Czech site would be halted on Thursday. Operations at its Turkey site would be suspended from Saturday.
HONDA
– Honda Motor Co <7267.T> said it was temporarily closing its dealerships in Italy.
VOLVO CARS
– Sweden’s Volvo Cars, owned by China’s Geely, closed production at its plant in Ghent, Belgium, until further notice, a spokesman said on March 18.
JAGUAR LAND ROVER
– The British carmaker, owned by Tata Motors
CONTINENTAL
– The auto supplier said on March 18 it would suspend production at factories in response to lower customer demand and to protect employees. Continental
BOSCH
– The auto supplier on March 18 said it was cutting production or suspending work altogether at plants in France, Italy, Spain in response to lower demand, supply chain bottlenecks and to protect employees.
HYUNDAI MOTOR <005380.KS>
– The South Korean company said on March 19 its Czech plant will suspend production from March 23 to April 3 due to the outbreak. Hyundai’s Czech operation, which took up about 12% of global plant sales outside South Korea in January, this month began delivery of the Kona Electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) to European customers.
KIA MOTORS <000270.KS>
– Kia’s Slovakia plant will suspend production from March 23 for two weeks, a spokesman said on March 19.
(Compiled by Boleslaw Lasocki and Jagoda Darlak in Gdansk and Edward Taylor and Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt; Additional reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by David Evans and Clarence Fernandez)
