FCA delays NorthAm auto plant restarts

US-based automaker Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) has delayed its North American plant restarts, which were set to begin next week, after more than a month of Covid-19-related shutdowns.

The automaker said it is reevaluating its plant restarts, which were set to begin 4 May, due to updates to state stay-in-place orders.

FCA was the only one of the major three US automakers that had announced a plant restart date. FCA, General Motors (GM) and Ford all had closed their auto plants in mid-March due to pressure from the union that represents their auto workers.

The president of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) union — which represents more than 150,000 US auto workers at Ford, GM and FCA — said yesterday that paid volunteer union members at Ford and GM had begun readying those companies' plants for restarts. With no restart date chosen for the two automakers, UAW president Rory Gamble said the union cautioned against restarting plants in early May.

FCA's delay is the latest for automakers in the US. Volkswagen was planning to restart its auto plant in Tennessee this week, and has delayed the restart by a week.

Honda has delayed plant restarts to 8 May, while Nissan has pushed its plant restarts into mid-May.

Toyota, Hyundai and Kia plan to reopen their North American auto plants beginning 4 May.

The closures of the US auto industry have contributed to massive curtailments of US steelmaking production, where at least 14.2mn short tons (st)/yr of flat rolled capacity has been taken offline. The ferrous scrap industry has also been severely impacted, with flows of prime scrap from automakers and other manufacturers drying up

By Rye Druzin