Novel coronavirus pneumonia, the three Japanese carmakers, TOYOTA, Nissan and Honda, said that although the number of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia remained high, the three auto companies would resume production in Mexico as Mexico’s auto industry had restarted with a broader economic recovery.
In mid May this year, the Mexican government said that if car companies can take safety measures in place, the auto industry will be able to resume production before June 1. The three Japanese companies have yet to announce the date of resumption of production. Toyota and Toyota said on May 25 that production would gradually resume. Honda said on May 22 that it had gradually resumed operations.
At the end of February, the epidemic spread to Mexico, where 68620 confirmed cases and 7394 deaths have been reported, leading some to believe that Mexico’s decision to restart the economy is too hasty. Last week, the governor of Puebla, where Volkswagen and Audi factories are located, said the industry was “not ready” to restart production.
On May 25, Volkswagen, the German car maker, said it would not resume production as long as the Puebla law was in force, although it had met the conditions set by the Mexican Federation to resume work.
On May 25, Lear, an American parts manufacturer, asked 600 of its employees to report at Rio Bravo factory in northern Mexico, which supplies products for Daimler and Ford. Earlier, the factory had an outbreak of a cluster of cases, resulting in the death of 18 employees.
Lear said safety precautions had been deployed inside the plant, and all of its Mexican plants had not yet restarted production. But three Lear employees revealed that they had begun to return to work at the Rio Bravo plant over the weekend. In a safety training message to workers, Lear said workers could receive a bonus of 300 pesos (about $13.3) per shift (12 hours) on Saturdays and Sundays.
On May 25, Michelin, a French tire maker, resumed operations at two Mexican factories and said it would stagger production shifts at the beginning of the resumption. The company said it would resume operations in the first quarter of this year based on global demand for Millin.