Author: World_Newz Mon

Volkswagen suspends production as coronavirus hits sales

* VW says sales down 15% in first two months of 2020
* VW CFO says coronavirus makes forecasts impossible
* VW resumes production in China as Europe shuts down (Adds CFO comment)
FRANKFURT, March 17 (Reuters) – Volkswagen Group , the world's biggest carmaker, is suspending production at factories across Europe as the coronavirus pandemic hits sales and disrupts supply chains, the company said on Tuesday.
The German carmaker, which owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, also said that uncertainty about the fallout from coronavirus meant it was impossible to give forecasts for its performance this year.
“Given the present significant deterioration in the sales situation and the heightened uncertainty regarding parts supplies to our plants, production is to be suspended in the near future at factories operated by group brands,” Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Tuesday.
Volkswagen's powerful works council concluded it was not po..

Fiat Chrysler’s only open Italian plant running at reduced capacity

MILAN, March 17 (Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler(FCA) has resumed limited production at its Atessa facility in Italy, the automaker's only open assembly plant, having halted operations at most of its European factories, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
The company said on Monday that it was halting production for two weeks at most of its European plants to help to protect staff and adjust to a slump in demand.
The Atessa plant had been closed since last week as the company performed deep sanitisation and some reconfiguration of production lines to allow more space between workers.
“Operations have restarted with the number of workers reduced by around 45%,” the FCA spokesman said, adding that workers placed on temporary leave will receive benefits through the 'cassa integrazione' wage-guarantee fund.
Located in the central Italian region of Abruzzo and operated by Sevel, a joint venture between the Italian-American automaker and France's PSA-Peugeot, the plant usually produces..

Audi’s Hungarian plant to suspend production because of coronavirus

BUDAPEST, March 17 (Xinhua) — German carmaker Audi will halt production at its plant in Gyor, northwestern Hungary, next Monday due to the coronavirus pandemic and uncertainties in component supply, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported on Tuesday.
“The Volkswagen Group is suspending production at most of its sites,” and the measure affects Audi AG's plant in Gyor, MTI said citing a statement from Audi.
The company plans to halt production in an organized and controlled manner by the end of the current week, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Hungary is closing its borders to all personal travel with the exception of nationals returning to the country, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Monday.
According to the Hungarian government's updated statistics, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 50 on Tuesday, with two reported recoveries, one fatality. And 137 people are in quarantine.

Volkswagen’s Portugal plant suspends production

LISBON, March 16 (Xinhua) — Volkswagen Autoeuropa, the largest Portuguese exporter and auto producer, was forced to stop production on Monday by a lack of personnel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, local media reported.
The factory management realized that none of the three daily shifts could be guaranteed, as many workers decided to stay at home with their children after the government suspended classes in an attempt to contain the pandemic, according to the website of the Portuguese newspaper Publico.
“In view of the absences forecast from March 16, it was also decided to reduce daily production from 890 to 744 units, helping to adjust the factory to the conditions required by national authorities. Both decisions were communicated to all employees on March 13,” the day after the announcement of the suspension of classes till the Easter holidays, the company's top management said in a statement.
Anxiety among the workers was triggered further over the weekend when seven who had ..

Volkswagen and PSA will temporarily close Slovak plants

The coronavirus has forced Volkswagen Slovakia to suspend its production only several days after it producing its six millionth car.As this has not happened, the Bratislava-based plant suspended its production on March 16, describing it as “the most responsible solution” under current circumstances.The French car producer PSA will suspend production in its Trnava plant as well.

Chinese Carmakers Snap Up Talent From Germany’s Fading Opel

About half of the 20 engineers Chery Automobile has hired since opening its European headquarters here in 2019 were previously at Opel.Such hires include Geely’s senior chief engineer for electric propulsion systems and its director of infotainment and connectivity as well as Chery’s senior managers for vehicle architecture, interior design and exterior design.Geely already has “boots on the ground” on the continent through its ownership of European brands including Volvo Cars, Lotus and London EV, previously London Taxi.

Aston Martin boosts capital-raising plan after coronavirus market volatility

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) – Aston Martin is increasing a 500-million pound ($617 million) capital-raising plan by 36 million pounds due to the coronavirus outbreak which will now see a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll take a roughly 25% stake in the firm.
Aston, which has seen its share price tumble in recent days in addition to big losses last year after it failed to meet sales expectations, announced plans for Stroll to buy up to 20% of the company in January in a bid to turn around its fortunes.
“In light of recent extraordinary equity market volatility related to concerns over Covid-19, the company has renegotiated certain terms relating to the proposed investment,” the company said on Friday.
Short-term working capital from Yew Tree, a vehicle controlled by Stroll, is also being increased to 75.5 million pounds.
The firm, which builds all its cars in Britain, said the third production trial of its first sport utility vehicle is going ahead as planned.
It sai..

Several Renault-Nissan plants in Spain halted amid coronavirus outbreak

MADRID, March 13 (Reuters) – Several Renault-Nissan plants in Spain halted production temporarily on Friday or were planning stoppages next week due to a lack of parts amid the coronavirus epidemic, company officials said.
Nissan's two Barcelona plants stopped on Friday afternoon as a wheels supplier was affected by a lockdown in the town of Odena nearby because of a coronavirus outbreak. The stoppage will last at least until Monday, a company spokesman said. The plants are closed on weekends.
Renault's plants, in Valladolid and in Palencia, will cease production for two days next week due to a lack of components.
“Yesterday we had no problems, and now we have to stop for two days from Monday in Palencia and Valladolid,” a spokesman said, explaining that the supply chain had suffered setbacks in Catalonia. There are about 6,000 workers at the two plants.