• PARALYSIS: More than a dozen auto plants in at least five Mexican states will temporarily shut down its activities in the coming days as a response to the global coronavirus health emergency that has also brought havoc to supply chains around the world.
• ENGINE: Following a larger closure across North America, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Audi and Toyota are halting production in Mexico for several days. Audi’s plant (Puebla) will restart production until April 13 while Toyota’s two plants (Baja California and Guanajuato) will just close for two days. It is unclear when GM will idle factories in Mexico.
• DISRUPTION: “Audi Mexico has experienced a lack of supplies for the assembling of the Audi Q5 in it’s (Mexico plant) as well as various difficulties for the timely and proper transportation of our finished products to their destination countries”, the German carmaker said in a press release.
• CAPACITY: Last year, Mexican car production fell for a second year in a row reaching a total of 3.75 million units and Mexican car exports had shrank for the first time since the Great Recession. Industry officials were already forecasting a further cut in 2020 due to weak global demand.
