It should come as no surprise that the corona crisis has a major impact on global industry in addition to major human consequences. In recent days, several manufacturers have closed the gates of their European production sites and this trend is now continuing in the United States.
Fears of the further spread of the coronavirus are spreading like wildfire through industry. Yesterday, several manufacturers closed their European production sites. BMW and Toyota, among others, shut down all their European production lines and Daimler and Ford closed the gates to a large part of their European factories. Now, car manufacturers are also shutting down production sites in North and Central America.
Toyota today announces that it will start keeping all its factories in North America temporarily closed from next Monday and Tuesday. It is not yet clear how long Toyota has been producing. Honda has 14 plants in North America, no fewer than 10 of which are located in the United States. Honda is also forced to temporarily close the gates of a large number of production locations. From next Monday, no Hondas will be built in Indiana, Alabama, Canada and Mexico until March 30. Nissan will shut down four plants in North America for the next two weeks from Friday. Hyundai closed one of its factories in Alabama, USA yesterday and is now shutting down all North American production lines.
American car manufacturers are also considering the further spread of the corona virus. General Motors and Ford report that they are shutting down all production facilities in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Production had previously been scaled back, but that measure appears to be insufficient. At least until March 30, FCA Automobiles will shut down all its factories located in North and Central America. Audi said yesterday to shut down production of the Q5 in Puebla, Mexico from Monday to April 13.