Leading global automakers Volkswagen and Ford are preparing to temporarily suspend production at their plants in Europe to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.
Ford has announced that it will temporarily suspend vehicle and engine production at its manufacturing plants across Europe as of March 19 due to the coronavirus. The halt is expected to continue for a couple of weeks.
Furthermore, Herbert Diess, CEO of German automaking giant Volkswagen, has declared that the company is shutting down most of its European plants for two weeks from March 19 due to uncertainty about auto demand and supplies of auto parts amid the coronavirus outbreak. The company’s plants located at Bratislava (Slovakia), Pamplona (Spain), Palmela (Portugal), Italy, and Wolfsburg, Emden, Dresden, Osnabrück, Zwickau plants in Germany, as well as the Brunswick, Chemnitz, Hannover, Kassel, Salzgitter and SITECH component plants, will be afftected by the production cuts.
Meanwhile, Ford Otosan has said in a statement that it plans to temporarily shut its plants in Turkey due to production cuts abroad within the scope of measures to tackle the coronavirus. The halt will be effective from March 30 and last at least until April 6.