DPA
Mercedes plant: Most of the production in Europe will be stopped for two weeks
Even with the car maker Daimler Show stock market chart stand because of the Corona virus for the time being, the tapes are still in many plants. A large part of the production in Europe will be closed for an initial two weeks from this week, the group announced on Tuesday in Stuttgart. Both car and van as well as commercial vehicle production are affected. In addition, work in selected administrative areas was interrupted, it said. The plants are to be shut down by the end of this week. The supply chains, which cannot currently be fully maintained, should also be checked.
“With these measures, the company is doing its part to protect the workforce, break the chain of infection and curb the spread of this pandemic,” it said. “At the same time, this decision helps to prepare Daimler for a period of temporarily lower demand and to secure the company’s financial strength.”
The economic consequences of the measures cannot yet be quantified. An extension depends on the further development of the situation. Wherever operations have to be maintained, measures are taken to protect employees, Daimler emphasized.
Volkswagen is also shutting down production
Many other car manufacturers had previously announced that they would shut down production at their plants to curb the spread of the virus. The last shift is to run at most VW locations on Friday (March 20). The subsidiary Audi will gradually shut down its plants in Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm, Belgium, Mexico and Hungary until the weekend, and production at Skoda is also to be shut down for a while.
Opel shuts down production at its main plant in Rüsselsheim. Ford will stop at the German locations in Cologne and Saarlouis as well as other locations in Europe from Thursday.
At the end of last week, Daimler itself had indefinitely postponed its general meeting scheduled for April 1. A new appointment for the shareholders’ meeting is now being planned for early July.
la / dpa / reuters