Ford Motor Company on March 23 annouced that it is temporarily suspending vehicle andengine production at its international markets group (IMG) manufacturing sites in response to thegrowing impact of the coronavirus.
The IMG production suspensions began on March 21, and will continue for several weeksdepending on the pandemic situation, national restrictions, supplier constraints and dealer stockrequirements. While Ford will continue to monitor the situation, the company is adjusting its original IMG productionschedule and will temporarily suspend production market-by-market.
Chennai vehicle assembly plant, Sanand vehicle assembly plant, Sanand engine plant and Chennai engine plant in India have been closed temporarily since March 21.
Activities in Ford Vietnam Limited Hai Duong assembly plant would be suspended from March 26. Earlier on January 14, this company annouced its $82 million investment to expand the plant in Vietnam. The expansion was expected to start this year and finish in mid-2022.
March 27 would be the last working day in Ford Motor Company Limited located in Thailand, Silverton assembly plant and Struandale engine plant in South Africa.
"The health and safety of our employees, dealers, customers, partners and communities is our highestpriority,” said Mark Ovenden, president of Ford's International Markets Group. “We are continuing to act in realtime and taking added safety measures by temporarily halting production at our manufacturing sites in theinternational markets.”
The announcement follows actions previously announced by Ford, including the temporarysuspension of vehicle and engine production in North America, Europe and South America.
Ford also isrequiring employees to work remotely unless they are performing a business-critical job that requiresbeing onsite. The company’s working remotely policy will continue until further notice in a continued effortto help contain the virus. Precautionary measures are being taken to protect the safety of the smallnumber of employees who are unable to work from home.
