Car makers suspend European production over coronavirus

Car makers 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, SA, 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 car maker 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 car maker 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 car maker 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, 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 car maker 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, Osnabrück, 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, Volkswagen's premium unit, said on March 17 it would halt output at plants in Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Mexico.

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

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 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 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 spokesperson said on March 18.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER

The British car maker, owned by Tata Motors, said on March 18 it would suspend production at its plant in Nitra, Slovakia from Friday.

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 declined to detail where the shutdowns would occur.

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

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

Kia's Slovakia plant will suspend production from March 23 for two weeks, a spokesperson said on March 19.