General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota Motor on Tuesday confirmed that they’ve reopened their factories or are beginning to restart production in China following an extended holiday shutdowns due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Michael Palese, a spokesman for Fiat Chrysler, said the company’s plant in Guangzhou, located hundreds of miles south of the coronavirus epicenter in Wuhan, has resumed production this week. The company’s second assembly plant in China is “expected to resume operations soon,” he said in an email.
Palese said Fiat Chrysler “continues to monitor its global supply chain in relation to the coronavirus outbreak in China.” There has been no impact to the company’s operations in North America, he said.
GM, as planned, “began the process of restarting production” Saturday as part of a two-week process to reopen its 15 assembly plants in the country, according to Jim Cain, a company spokesman. He said the company has not experienced any impact to its U.S. truck production, which union officials last week said could be impacted due to parts shortages in the coming weeks.
GM declined to comment on how many plants are beginning to restart production.
Toyota, according to company spokesman Eric Booth, said three of its four plants in China are beginning to operate single shifts this week.
“Our priority continues to be the safety and security of the workplace and we will resume normal operations as soon as is deemed safe and appropriate,” Booth wrote in an email.
The restart of vehicle production comes as total confirmed cases of coronavirus exceed 73,400 people, including at least 1,874 deaths.
CNBC