German car maker Volkswagen shuts down production at numerous plants

Berlin [Germany], March 17 (Xinhua/ANI): Volkswagen would temporarily shut down production at numerous of its plants from the end of the week onwards because of the coronavirus pandemic, Herbert Diess, chairperson of the board of management (CEO) of the German car maker announced on Tuesday.
"In view of the current significant deterioration in unit sales and the emerging uncertainty in the supply of parts to our plants, there will also be immediate production stoppages at our brands' plants," said Diess.
Volkswagen's German plants have recently confirmed the first case of coronavirus infection among their employees.
On Tuesday, the works council in Wolfsburg announced that the last shift was to run on Friday at the vast majority of Volkswagen sites in Germany and Europe.
As Germany's largest car manufacturer, Volkswagen has more than 670,000 employees worldwide. The group operates 124 production facilities in 20 countries in Europe and in 11 countries and regions in America, Asia and Africa.
"It is uncertain how severely or for how long this will also affect the Volkswagen Group," said Frank Witter, group board of management member for finance and IT at Volkswagen.
"We are making full use of all measures in task force mode to support our employees and their families and to stabilize our business," added Witter. (Xinhua/ANI)