Car makers bitten by the financial turmoil take recourse to closure
Giants of the car making industry unable to shield themselves from financial upheaval are resorting to desperate measures such as cutting down production and the closure of plants.
In the UK, Ford has decided to run its Southampton plant 4 days a week in order to curtail production.
A large number of leading car makers in Europe have cut down their outputs as sales nose dived due to the credit crunch.
Opel of General Motors has shut its German plant at Bochum for a few days in October and announced the suspension of production at Eisenach plant for three weeks.
Opel spokesman Andreas Kroemer stated that company was feeling the impact of financial crises as people were refraining from ordering cars while holding back their spending on high value items.
General Motor’s Vauxhall plant in the UK, with 2,000 strong staff was observing two weeks of ‘down days’ in an effort to match production to the market demand. This would result in the loss of 9,000 units at Ellesmere Port out of an annual budget of 120,000 vehicles. 46% of this production is exported to Germany, Spain and Italy.
Ford is planning a reduction in output at Saarlouis in Germany, while Luton the General Motor van plant would have no production for 10 days during this month. Volkswagen’s Seat and Skoda subsidiaries and BMW are reported to be planning the same route of production curb to face the fall in demand.
Senior industry executives have forecast bleak outlook for the European automotive industry and delayed recovery from the upheaval.
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