Panasonic Halts Battery Production; Volkswagen and BMW Suspends Operations in Mexico

Today, Panasonic Corp (TYO: 6752) announced its plan to temporarily halt production at its battery joint project with U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) in Nevada due to coronavirus.

Panasonic, a battery supplier for Tesla’s vehicles, plans to reduce production at Gigafactory Nevada next week, prior to a total shutdown which is expected to last around 14 days, said the Japanese tech company.

On Thursday, Tesla made an announcement saying the production at Gigafactory would continue, while it would halt operations at its San Francisco Bay Area plant on March 24.

Staff affected by the closure at the Nevada plant will receive full pay and benefits during the shutdown, said Panasonic. Over that period, the factory will go through the cleaning process, said the maker of the electronic devices.

According to the reports, Panasonic employs around 3,500 people at the Nevada factory.

Elsewhere, German carmaker Volkswagen (ETR:VOW) is also making a move because of the pandemic, temporarily closing its plants in Mexico in an effort to maintain public health, stated the carmaker’s Mexican unit.

The closure of its factories in Puebla and Guanajuato states will come into force from March 30 through April 12. Weaker demand and parts deficit were one of the main reasons behind the decision to halt operations in the factories.

On Friday, another German automaker, BMW (ETR: BMW), also said it would halt production in Mexico, as a follow-up to the already-planned shutdown at its plant in San Luis Potosi state.

The shutdown will take effect on March 28 and will last at least until April 19. Apart from the shutdown, the car manufacturers will adopt additional measures such as working from home and restricting travel and group meetings.