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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Lockdowns shutter Fiat, Renault factories

Duration: 01:06s 0 shares 1 views

Lockdowns shutter Fiat, Renault factories
Lockdowns shutter Fiat, Renault factories

Lockdowns look set to stymie Fiat's plan to resume production, while Renault says all its plants outside China and South Korea are now shut.

Julian Satterthwaite reports.

Lockdowns have already wreaked havoc with airlines and planemakers.

Now European carmakers aren't faring much better.

As Italy's crisis drags on, Fiat Chrysler may be giving up plans to restart production lines.

Last week it said it would look to resume work at three plants there.

That includes the Mirafiori factory that will make the new electric version of the Fiat 500.

But on Monday (March 30) a union representative said that those plans could be frustrated.

That after a minister said at the weekend that an extension of the lockdown was 'inevitable'.

Italian media reports suggest it will be prolonged until about April 18.

Meanwhile France's Renault says production has now stopped at all its plants, except those in China and South Korea.

The firm said it would restart production in other countries whenever restrictions were lifted.

Shares in both firms fared far worse than the broader market Monday.

By mid afternoon Fiat Chrysler was down about 2%.

Renault was off around 5%.

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