Ford will reopen the majority of its European production plants starting Monday, May 4.
The automaker will restart its vehicle assembly facilities at Saarlouis and Cologne in Germany, in Craiova in Romania, in Valencia in Spain, and in Golcuk and Yenikoy in Turkey from that date, Ford said on Tuesday in a news release.
It will also resume engine production at Cologne and Craiova starting May 4. Its Valencia engine plant will restart May 18.
The company said its two UK engine plants will start again “at a later date,” without being specific.
“We need to prepare for a new environment once we are past the initial peak of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe,” Ford of Europe CEO Stuart Rowley said in the release.
Ford is implementing global standards on social distancing and strengthened health and safety protocols, Rowley said.
Production will be phased in gradually with the initial focus on fulfilling orders already taken by dealers, the company said.
It will be “a few months” before…
