Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday said it will further delay restarting production at its North American plants as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread in the United States.
The Dearborn automaker last week had shared its intentions to begin manufacturing again at Hermosillo Assembly in Mexico starting next Monday and at select U.S. plants, including Dearborn Truck, on April 14. The plants will remain idled indefinitely.
“The health and safety of our workforce, dealers, customers, partners and communities remains our highest priority,” Kumar Galhotra, Ford president of North America, said in a statement. “We are working very closely with union leaders — especially at the UAW — to develop additional health and safety procedures aimed at helping keep our workforce safe and healthy.”
The decision comes after the Trump administration this week extended federal social distancing guidelines through end of April as medical consultants said the United States could see more than 100,000 deaths from the COVID-19 outbreak. And Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday indicated Michigan could be weeks away from a peak in cases.
Unlike Ford, General Motors Co. has not announced a restart date for production since extending its shutdown beyond this past Monday. Some employees, however, have been told to file for unemployment until as late as May 1 in states that require an end date to make the request.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV last week also said its U.S. and Canadian plants would remain closed through April 13, though it is continuing to monitor the situation.
Industry experts have said it is unlikely most plants will restart before May, not only to keep workers safe but because of declines in demand as stay-at-home orders keep people from buying cars and close non-essential businesses, putting people out of work.
But as of Monday, foreign-owned automakers were holding onto plans to restart production in April. Toyota Corp.’s North American plants are set to open April 17 with production resuming April 20. Volkswagen AG intends to restart production at its Tennessee plant at 10 p.m. April 5. Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s 12 manufacturing facilities, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s Mississippi and Tennessee plants and Subaru Corp.’s Indiana plant are closed through April 6. Hyundai Motor Co. has suspended production in Alabama until April 10.
The United Auto Workers had expressed “great concern and caution” over Ford and Fiat Chrysler’s plans to restart production in the coming weeks.
“Today’s decision by Ford is the right decision for our members, their families and our nation,” UAW President Rory Gamble said in a statement. “Under Vice President Gerald Kariem, the UAW Ford Department continues to work closely with our local unions and Ford to make sure that as we return to production all members are safe, and our communities are protected from this spreading pandemic.”
Ford’s decision does not affect the automaker’s plans to build ventilators at its Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti starting the week of April 20. Three shifts of 500 total paid UAW volunteers will work to produce 50,000 ventilators in the next 100 days.
The volunteers will have to self-certify online every day. Work stations will be six feet apart, and shifts will be scheduled so the workers from different shifts have no contact. Other high-tech solutions, Ford added, are in the works, as well.
bnoble@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @BreanaCNoble
Read or Share this story: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2020/03/31/ford-delays-restarting-manufacturing-north-america-indefinitely-amid-covid-19-outbreak/5093210002/