Ford Delays North America Production Restart Indefinitely

(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. canceled plans to restart factories in Mexico and the U.S. over the next two weeks, citing risks to workers posed by the coronavirus outbreak.

The automaker is not setting a new date to resume production and is working to establish new safety procedures with the United Auto Workers, which expressed concern last week about the plan to reopen factories. The union announced the first two deaths of Ford plant workers on March 28 and has said several of its members who work for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV have died of the virus.

“Today’s decision by Ford is the right decision for our members, their families and our nation,” UAW President Rory Gamble said in a statement. The union leader challenged auto executives last week to ask themselves: “Would I send my family member -- my own son or daughter -- into that plant and be 100% certain they are safe?”

Ford shares fell as much as 1.4% shortly after the open of regular trading Tuesday. The automaker had been aiming to restart production on April 6 at a car factory in Hermosillo, Mexico, then resume building pickups, sport utility vehicles and commercial vans at several U.S. plants on April 14.

Shutdowns around the world are costing Ford billions, though there’s little urgency to reopen because sales are likely to be depressed for months. The automaker’s credit was cut to junk by S&P Global Ratings last week.

“The health and safety of our workforce, dealers, customers, partners and communities remains our highest priority,” Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president of North America, said in the statement.

Ford still plans to begin producing ventilators at a Michigan factory during the week of April 20 in conjunction GE Healthcare. The factory will be staffed by about 500 paid volunteer UAW workers, the company said.

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