US-based automaker Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) plans to begin restarting its North American operations the week of 18 May and revised its US auto sales outlook down by a quarter in 2020 because of Covid 19 impacts.

The company said productivity will be reduced due to safety measures to protect its workforce once operations resume, two months after they were halted.

FCA also reduced its outlook of total sales in the US vehicle market to 12.5mn units in 2020, down by 26pc from its earlier estimate of 17mn.

FCA delayed its restarts last week due to continued coronavirus-related stay-in-place orders that have shut down wide swaths of the US economy. The announcement comes a day after foreign automakers BMW, Hyundai and Kia restarted their US auto plants in South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia, respectively, with limited production.

Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, began reopening its SUV plant in Alabama and van facility in South Carolina on 27 April.

FCA's Belvidere plant in Illinois, which builds the Jeep Cherokee SUV, will be the only one with a delayed opening, with expectation to restart production on 1 June.

The two other major US-based auto manufacturers - Ford and General Motors (GM) - have yet to announce dates to restart their North American production plants.

The across-the-board shutdowns have had major effects on the steel industry in the US, forcing more than 15.5mn short tons/yr of flat-rolled steel capacity to be taken off line, with the majority by integrated flat-rolled steelmakers. The automotive industry is a major consumer of flat-rolled steel.

By Rye Druzin