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Ford Motor Company, Monday, announced the temporary suspension of vehicle and engine production at its International Markets Group (IMG) manufacturing sites in response to the growing impact of the coronavirus.
Ford said the IMG production suspensions which actually began Saturday, March 21, will continue for several weeks depending on the pandemic situation, national restrictions, supplier constraints and dealer stock requirements.
“The health and safety of our employees, dealers, customers, partners and communities is our highest priority,” said Mark Ovenden, president, International Markets Group. “We are continuing to act in real time and taking added safety measures by temporarily halting production at our manufacturing sites in the international markets.”
Ford said while it will continue to monitor the situation, it will be adjusting its original IMG production schedule and will temporarily suspend production market-by-market. The last working day per market, according to Ford, is as follows:
March 21: India — Chennai Vehicle Assembly Plant, Sanand Vehicle Assembly Plant, Sanand Engine Plant and Chennai Engine Plant.
March 26: Vietnam — Ford Vietnam Limited Haiduong Assembly Plant.
March 27: Thailand — Ford Motor Company (Thailand) Limited.
March 27: South Africa – Silverton Assembly Plant (Pretoria) and Struandale Engine Plant (Port Elizabeth).
The measures announced Monday follow actions previously announced by Ford, including the temporary suspension of vehicle and engine production in North America, Europe and South America.
Ford said it is also requiring employees to work remotely unless they are performing a business-critical job that requires being onsite. The company’s working remotely policy, it added, will continue until further notice in a continued effort to help contain the virus.
It maintained that precautionary measures are being taken to protect the safety of the small number of employees who are unable to work from home.
“In these extraordinary times, we must come together to put our people first,” Ovenden said. “We will continue working across our region to explore additional protocols and procedures to help prevent the spread of the virus and define new work practices to lessen its effects wherever we can.”
