Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, in consultation with the US union, have circled a new date on the agenda to resume US production. Things have to start running again on May 18.
The car factories have reopened in various places in Europe in the past two weeks. With the mitigation of the corona measures and thanks to the safety measures taken, production can be resumed in part. In the United States they are not yet ready. Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler factories are currently used only (to a small extent) for the production of protective equipment or respirators, but the production of cars is completely halted. They would of course like to see that change quickly.
The major hitch to date has been the (otherwise very understandable) critical attitude of the UAW union. The factory workers’ representative will only give the green light if the situation is considered safe enough. According to Reuters, the governor of Michigan also joined the discussions about a date when they can get back to work. Those conversations revealed May 18. That means another American production stop for these groups of about three weeks. Meanwhile, GM, FCA and Ford are preparing the factories for the new conditions. For example, Ford wants to use bracelets to prevent its factory workers from getting too close to each other.