Ford, Honda, Audi and other automobile manufacturers have announced that they will limit or suspend production in Mexico in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

Major auto makers will close plants for days or weeks to clean and disinfect, limit employee contact and/or deal with the lack of materials for production.

J.D. Power of Mexico director general Gerardo Gómez said that the coronavirus known as Covid-19 will disrupt auto sales in the country, which just saw a rebound in February. He said that the impact could last until April or even June.

Ford released a statement saying that its plants in Mexico, Canada and the United States will stop all production after shifts are finished on Thursday night until March 30 in order to clean and disinfect the facilities.

Honda announced that it will suspend production at its plants in Mexico, Canada and the United States from March 23-31, reducing its output by approximately 40,000 vehicles in the days leading up to the closure.

Audi said that its Mexican plants have been experiencing difficulties obtaining the materials they need for production of the Audi Q5 at its plant in San José Chiapa, Puebla, and has also seen logistics problems, and will therefore close from March 23 to April 13.

Toyota will also suspend production of vehicles and parts in all of its plants in Mexico and elsewhere in North America on March 23 and 24 to clean and disinfect, resuming operations on March 25. Its distribution and logistics centers will remain open and operate as normal.

Fiat Chrysler Mexico suspended operations in its plants on Wednesday and did not announce when it would resume, but said it might at the end of the month.

General Motors suspended its manufacturing operations in North America, but the plan did not include its factories in Mexico, which will continue operating normally.

Source: El Heraldo de Aguascalientes (sp)