Notícias

Roundup of plant closures across Europe

Ford, Volkswagen Group and Toyota joined automakers including PSA Group and Renault in suspending production in Europe as the impact of the coronavirus worsens.

in Automotive News Europe, by Staff and wire reports, 17-03-2020 (updating)


Here is an overview of how production is being affected at key automakers in the region.

Daimler

Daimler said it is halting most Mercedes-Benz production in Europe for two weeks because supply chains cannot be maintained.

Ford  

Ford said it is temporarily suspending vehicle and engine production at its manufacturing sites in continental Europe, effective from Thursday, March 19. The company expects the closure will continue for a number of weeks.

The automaker’S manufacturing sites in Cologne and Saarlouis in Germany, together with the Craiova facility in Romania, will temporarily halt production from Thursday, March 19.

Ford’s Valencia assembly and engine facility in Spain already temporarily halted production from Monday, after three workers were confirmed with coronavirus over the past weekend.

Nissan

Nissan has stopped output at its Sunderland factory in northeastern England as it assesses supply chain disruption and the drop in demand, the most significant closure to affect the country’s autos sector so far from the outbreak.

Volkswagen Group

Production will be halted at Pamplona in Spain, Setubal in Portugal and Bratislava in Slovakia before the end of the week. Most of the automaker’s other German and European plants are preparing to suspend production, probably for two weeks, VW said on Tuesday.

Audi said it will stop production at its factories in Ingostadt and Neckarsulm, Germany; Brussels, Belgium; and Gyor, Hungary by Monday.

VW’s Spanish unit, Seat, halted all output on Tuesday.

Skoda will suspend production at its domestic plants for two weeks starting on Wednesday.

Lamborghini is halting production at its plant in Italy until March 25.

Toyota

Toyota said it will stop production at its plant in Valenciennes, France, from Wednesday for an undetermined period. The factory builds the Yaris hatchback.

The automaker is shutting operations for two weeks at its plant in Ovar, Portugal, where it builds the Land Cruiser in low volumes for export outside of Europe.

PSA Group

PSA Group is closing its European factories until March 27 due to the disruption in parts deliveries from major suppliers and the sudden decline in markets.

The move affect plants building Peugeot, Citroen and DS vehicles, as well as Opel’s factories in Germany and Poland, and Vauxhall plants in the UK.

Renault

Renault said it would shut down its industrial sites in France starting Monday evening until further notice.

In addition, Renault said it would stop production at its factory in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, on Tuesday, until further notice. The factory makes the Clio small hatchback, Renault brand’s best-seller, the Twingo minicar and the Smart ForFour, which was developed with the Twingo, for Daimler. It also makes electric versions of the ForFour and is starting production of the Twingo Z.E. electric version.

The factory employs 2,900 people, Renault said.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles  

The automaker is suspending production for its Fiat and Maserati units until March 27 at the Italian plants of Melfi, Pomigliano, Cassino, Mirafiori, Grugliasco and Modena.

FCA’s factories in Kragujevac, Serbia, and Tychy, Poland, will also close.

FCA has resumed limited production at its Atessa facility in Italy, the automaker’s only open assembly plant, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The joint venture between FCA and PSA builds light commercial vehicles. The plant had been closed since last week as the company performed deep sanitization and some reconfiguration of production lines to allow more space between workers.

Ferrari 

Ferrari has closed its two plants until March 27.

BMW

BMW said its European plants are operating as normal.

Volvo

Volvo said its Swedish and Belgian plants are not affected by the coronavirus at this point.

Hyundai

Hyundai said its Czech plant is so far working as usual on three shifts, building the the new i30 and the Kona electric.

Honda

Honda said its UK factory is still in production and the supply of parts remains solid.

 

Nick Gibbs, Christaan Hetzner, Andrea Malan, Douglas A. Bolduc and Reuters contributed to this report

Font: AFIA

Tags
Mostrar Mais

Related Articles

Deixe um comentário

O seu endereço de email não será publicado. Campos obrigatórios marcados com *

Back to top button
Close
Close