The coronavirus pandemic will cause a temporary shutdown that will continue until March 27.
Maserati, following similar announcements by Lamborghini, Ferrari, and others, has decided to stop production at its Modena plant, Italy, amid the coronavirus epidemic. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced a larger plan to protect its workers across Europe. The facilities in Cassino Grugliasco Melfi, Melfi and G. Vico (Pomigliano) are also being suspended.
FCA has stopped production in Italy at Kragujevac, Serbia. This factory makes the Fiat 500L minivan. It also temporarily closes the Tychy plant in Poland. There the Fiat 500/Abarth 500 are manufactured alongside the Lancia Ypsilon.
FCA has announced that the production shut down will continue through March 27, according to a press release. The following steps will be taken by the automotive conglomerate during this time:
The Group will use these stops to make revisions to production protocols and quality control protocols in order to benefit customers and improve overall productivity. The Group will work with its suppliers and business partners to ensure that our manufacturing operations can deliver the total production levels previously planned, regardless of suspensions when demand returns to normal.
This is a very understandable decision considering the severity of the COVID-19 situation in Italy, where it has already affected 24,747 people as of the time of writing. According to the coronavirus resource centre established by The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, it’s an extremely responsible decision. Italy is the worst affected country by the coronavirus epidemic, with more than 1,800 deaths. There is a silver lining in that almost 2,400 people have recovered fully, but it is likely that the crisis will continue to worsen.