BMW, Bosch Restart Production Lines in China as Lockdowns Ease
BMW, Bosch Restart Production Lines in China as Lockdowns Ease
(Bloomberg) -- Car and auto-parts factories in China are gradually getting underway again as Covid-enforced lockdowns in the country’s northeastern Liaoning and Jilin provinces ease.
BMW has resumed full production at its two plants in Shenyang in Liaoning after an almost month-long shutdown, the company said in a statement Tuesday, while Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s biggest auto-parts maker, said its components factory in Jilin’s provincial capital Changchun reopened last week.
The facility is an important contributor to Bosch’s mobility division, which generated $48 billion in 2020, accounting for almost 60% of group revenue.
Volkswagen AG meanwhile said Monday it “gradually resumed production” at two of its plants -- also in Changchun -- while the Shanghai factory line it runs in conjunction with Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp. remains under evaluation.
In Shanghai, officials are encouraging a list of some 600 companies the city considers key to restart output after pandemic lockdowns confined a population of around 25 million to virtual house or neighborhood isolation for weeks on end. Closed-loop systems, where employees live and work on site, have been deployed by the likes of Tesla Inc. and Quanta Computer Inc., which makes laptops for Apple Inc.
Two more factories run by Bosch in Shanghai and Taicang, a city in Jiangsu province north of China’s financial hub, remain operational under such a system. Staff in closed-loop operations aren’t permitted to leave the premises until further notice to limit possible exposure to the virus.
Read more: BMW Resumes Full production at Shenyang After Long Shutdown
German automaker BMW said plants in Shenyang have “resumed full production” following “a period of adjusted production and gradual resumption measures,” according to a statement.
The company is “continuing to closely monitor the pandemic situation” and has “implemented strict pandemic prevention measures in the workplace,” it added.
Bosch didn’t specify exactly when its Jilin factory closed or reopened. A thermotechnology plant in Shanghai, which makes home hot water systems, remains shuttered.
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With assistance from Bloomberg