German carmakers had crisis call with Merkel - report

The bosses of VW, BMW and Daimler have reportedly held a crisis call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Thursday (April 2) that during the call on Wednesday (April 1) evening, the focus was on how to get production restarted amid global lockdowns.

VW last week said it might have to cut jobs if the pandemic is not brought under control, as it is still spending about $2.1 billion a week.

The report said carmakers were particularly concerned about the supply chain.

A VW source told Reuters that an EU-wide approach to re-starting production was needed.

A source at Daimler said Merkel, as well as the country's economy and finance ministers, had taken part in the call.

Germany's export-dependent manufacturing sector saw the steepest decrease in output in almost 11 years in March.

And French carmakers are under pressure too.

China's Dongfeng is reviewing a deal with PSA to cut its stake in the French carmaker after a fall in share prices.

PSA agreed to merge with Italian-American rival Fiat Chrysler in December to create the world's fourth-biggest carmaker by sales.

Dongfeng had agreed to lower its 12.2% stake in PSA by selling 30 million shares to the French firm, to help smooth this process.