Ford delays North American production restart from coronavirus lockdown

Ford said on Tuesday it was postponing its plan to restart production at its North American plants due to safety concerns for its workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.To generate cash, the No. 2 U.S. automaker had said last week it was poised to restart production at some plants in North America as early as April 6, bringing back such profitable vehicles as its top-selling F-150 full-sized pickup, the Transit commercial van and SUVs.But on Tuesday, Ford said it had been aiming to resume production at several key U.S. plants on April 14, but would now instead do so at dates it would announce later on."The health and safety of our workforce, dealers, customers, partners and communities remains our highest priority," Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford's North American operations, said in a statement.Still, the automaker will open a plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, during the week of April 20, that will make ventilators to treat patients afflicted by the coronavirus.Rival Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said last week it plans to resume production in North America on April 13.General Motors has shuttered its plants indefinitely and has not provided a date for vehicle production to restart. It is facing a delay in the production launch of its redesigned large SUVs and is delaying work on other SUVs."Once it is safe to resume production, we will do so," a GM spokesman said.As of Monday, Volkswagen was shooting for an April 5 reopening at its Tennessee plant. Honda, Nissan and Subaru facilities in North America will remain closed through April 6, and Hyundai through April 10. Toyota was planning to reopen its North American plants April 17.Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing,Chrysler,Fiat,Ford,GMFord delays North American production restart from coronavirus lockdown originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments