Last week, Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and General Motors announced plans to suspend North American production until the end of March.
Since then, the number of coronavirus cases in the United States has skyrocketed and so has the number of deaths. Given these developments, it appears plants will remain closed longer than anticipated.
Ford was the first to confirm the news as the company’s North American president, Kumar Galhotra, released a short statement saying their “top priority is the health and safety of our employees, dealers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.” He added, “In light of various governments’ orders to stay and work from home, Ford is not planning to restart our plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on Monday, March 30 as originally hoped.”
The company didn’t set a new date, but Galhotra said the automaker is “assessing various options” and talking with union leaders to determine the “optimal timing” for when production should resume.
Two people who spoke to Reuters suggested Ford won’t restart production until at least April 6th. However, they cautioned that date could be pushed back.
Other sources told the publication GM and FCA have also abandoned their original plan to resume production on March 30th. There’s no word on when production could restart, but all three automakers have plants in Michigan which is under lockdown until at least April 13th.
In related news, the UAW confirmed two members lost their battle with the coronavirus. One worked at an FCA plant in Kokomo, Indiana while the other was employed at FCA’s plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 55,000 cases of the coronavirus in the United States and 802 deaths as this morning. Sadly, both numbers are expected to rise.
