Photo: Ford
Not more than a week ago, all the major American carmakers announced they are shutting down operations in the U.S and elsewhere as a result of what seems to be an unstoppable pandemic. All announced these measures for a limited amount of time, but as the spread of the virus doesn’t give any signs of easing up, these deadlines will probably be extended.
Ford is the first to surrender and admit the initial term – the Blue Oval planned to have its U.S.-based factories closed until March 30 – would need to be extended, for a yet unspecified period of time.
The carmaker’s North American president, Kumar Galhotra, said in a statement released on Tuesday, March 24, that there are now no plans to reopen the facilities on the entire continent on March 30.
“Ford’s top priority is the health and safety of our employees, dealers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. In light of various governments’ orders to stay and work from home, Ford is not planning to restart our plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on Monday, March 30 as originally hoped.”
The official says the company is currently in the process of reassessing options, and more details would be provided as soon as a solution is found.
In the meantime, Ford is among the first auto giants to answer the plea for help from the medical sector and announced it would begin manufacturing both respirators and ventilators together with 3M and GE Healthcare. The Blue Oval has already begun making 100,000 plastic face shield per week for use by the medical professionals, factory workers and store clerks.
At the time of this writing, there are 425,000 reported infections across the world and over 19,000 people have died. In the U.S., the numbers are on the rise and now count 54,000 infections and nearly 800 deaths, and the country moved to the third position in the chart of most affected regions, after China and Italy.
The carmaker’s North American president, Kumar Galhotra, said in a statement released on Tuesday, March 24, that there are now no plans to reopen the facilities on the entire continent on March 30.
“Ford’s top priority is the health and safety of our employees, dealers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. In light of various governments’ orders to stay and work from home, Ford is not planning to restart our plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on Monday, March 30 as originally hoped.”
The official says the company is currently in the process of reassessing options, and more details would be provided as soon as a solution is found.
In the meantime, Ford is among the first auto giants to answer the plea for help from the medical sector and announced it would begin manufacturing both respirators and ventilators together with 3M and GE Healthcare. The Blue Oval has already begun making 100,000 plastic face shield per week for use by the medical professionals, factory workers and store clerks.
At the time of this writing, there are 425,000 reported infections across the world and over 19,000 people have died. In the U.S., the numbers are on the rise and now count 54,000 infections and nearly 800 deaths, and the country moved to the third position in the chart of most affected regions, after China and Italy.
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