French tyre manufacturer Michelin has decided to temporarily shut its factories in some parts of Europe "for at least one week". The company will be closing its factories in Italy, Spain and France, according to reports.
The company on March 18 said it was "taking all the measures required to safeguard the health of its employees, in close cooperation with local authorities in every host country."
Michelin has thus decided to close, for at least one week, "its production facilities located in the European countries most affected so far by the pandemic," basically Italy, Spain and France.
Italy overtook China on the 20th with regard to number of deaths due to the coronavirus while France recorded more than a hundred deaths in one single day. The pandemic is currently wreaking havoc in Europe and almost all major tyre and auto manufacturers have had to shut their factories.
Also See: Goodyear Halts Tyre Production In Europe And Americas
Governments in Italy, France and Spain have initiated complete lockdowns with people being asked to self isolate and stay at home as much as possible.
When asked about it's plans for North America, Michelin said that it continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and is making plans for short-, mid- and long-term contingencies. The company's activities in North America are operating normally for now, it said.
Michelin underscored that at this time its immediate priority is the health and safety of its employees and communities, and that’s where its focus will remain in the coming days and weeks.
Just like Goodyear, Michelin too says that it will continue to work with its service providers to manage continuity in its customer activities.
“While we are facing some supply chain disruption, our components, semi-finishes and products are still able to circulate. As the situation changes we will make adjustments to our production accordingly,” Michelin says.
Just yesterday, Goodyear too had announced that it will temporarily close production at its European, North American and South American tyre and retread plants in phases by the end of this week, at least till April 3 and maybe even further if required.
In Europe, Goodyear will be temporarily shutting down its plants in France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands as well as Slovenia and Poland.
