German car giant Volkswagen said on Tuesday it was preparing to close most of its European facilities as coronavirus pandemic disrupted supply chains and demand fell. Production in Spain, Portugal, Slovakia and Italy will be halted until the end of this week.
Most other German and European facilities are probably set to suspend production for two to three weeks.
Volkswagen’s strong working council, which represents employees in the group, said VW’s closures would take effect broadly from Friday.
Automobile manufacturing factories are idling across Europe.
In addition, France’s PSA Group, including Peugeot, Citroen and Opel, said it would close European manufacturing facilities starting this week.
French rival Renault said it had suspended production at its four factories in Spain.
