Some of Central Europe’s largest automakers have announced plans to resume production weeks after shutting down operations due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Thanks to strict lockdowns in numerous states across Central and Southeast Europe, the infection rate in most of the region has failed to reach the explosive growth seen in some of the major West European economies, remaining in the hundreds or low thousands. 

The other factor behind the decision of numerous automakers to resume work is that they have used the temporary shutdowns to put new social distancing measures in place, and in some cases launched extra shifts, to ensure workers are not operating in close proximity to each other. 

Hyundai has already resumed production at its Nosovice plant in the Czech Republic, said company spokesperson Pavel Barvik on April 14. Production in Nosovice was suspended on March 21. 

“We will start slowly, which is the morning and afternoon shifts. This gives us more flexibility in terms of logistics and all processes,” Barvik said, adding that employees who would have been assigned to the night shift during the week will stay at home with 70% of their pay.

On the other hand, Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile producer (TPCA) announced today it would extend its outage to May 4, scrapping plans to relaunch on April 17. Skoda Auto has decided to remain closed until April 27. 

The Nosovice factory is the only Hyundai plant in the European Union, employing 3,300 people in-house and 8,700 employees as subcontractors. In 2018, the company generated a profit of CZK7.22bn (€286.5mn) and sales of CZK129.26bn. 

In neighbouring Slovakia one of the country’s automakers, Kia Motors, resumed production on April 6. 

Among the country’s other car producers, Jaguar Land Rover had planned to reopen its sites in the UK and Slovakia on April 22, but has now extended the shutdown indefinitely, as reported by the Financial Times. Volkswagen Slovakia is expected to reopen on April 19, while Groupe PSA, which also has operations in Slovakia, said at the end of March it is implementing reinforced health measures at its facilities to “create the conditions for a safe and gradual return to work”, but it’s not clear when operations will resume. 

Slovakia had only around one tenth of the number of coronavirus infections as in the Czech Republic. However, employers associations have criticised the government for being slow to help big companies such as those in the auto industry. 

Hungarian automakers back in business

Hungary's leading carmaker Audi announced it will restart production at its plant in Gyor after a four-week shutdown. Sector peers Daimler and Suzuki are also working to relaunch production.

On April 14, the first working day after the Easter holiday, other major industrial companies announced plans to end the shutdowns at their Hungarian bases, such as South Korean tyre maker Hankook and Bridgestone. Japanese automotive industry supplier Denso is already operating with two shifts.

Audi said the company has implemented the necessary precautionary measures in all areas complying with the regulations of the Hungarian healthcare authorities, such as providing the minimum of 1.5m safety distance between workers.

The VW subsidiary announced the suspension of production in Western Hungary on March 17. The Gyor plant employs 12,800 and is Volkswagen's largest engine factory and one of the biggest industrial groups in Hungary with an annual turnover of HUF2.3 trillion (€6.9bn) in 2018. The premium carmaker produced 164,800 cars, an all-time record, and 1.97mn engines were manufactured.

The other two major car manufacturers Suzuki and Daimler also announced to restart production from April 27 and 28, after more than a month. Suzuki manufactured 185,000 vehicles at its Esztergom plant last year. The company announced plans to lay off 600 contracted workers, mostly Ukrainians, a week after the shutdown was in place.

Daimler is also working to gradually restart production at its factory in Kecsekemet, which operates with 4,700 workers. It produced more than 1mn cars since its launch in 2012, including 190,000 last year.

Opel, part of the PSA group, is also ready to restart production in Hungary after health and safety measures were put in place, the company said on Tuesday. The company operating near the Austrian border turned out 313,000 engines last year, down from 486,000 in 2018.

Japanese automotive industry supplier Denso announced that is already operating two shifts at its base in central Hungary. The company brought forward its scheduled summer shutdown in March. 

Hankook Tire Magyarorszag, which employs more than 3,300 people and turns out 19mn tyres a year began production at its plant in central Hungary. The announcements are positive for the Hungarian economy.

Vehicle production is a significant sector of the Hungarian economy, accounting for more than 25% of industrial production and 5% of the country's GDP.  Some 15 of the top Tier1 suppliers have manufacturing capacities in Hungary.

Romanian automakers aim for May reopening 

Romania’s two automakers, Automobile Dacia and Ford Craiova, plan to resume operations in early May, after suspending operations on March 19 to protect their employees from the coronavirus pandemic.

Automobile Dacia, part of Renault group, plans to resume operations at its plant in Mioveni, near Pitesti, in two stages, on April 21 and May 4, the company’s management announced in a press release on April 9. 

Dacia will restart production at its mechanic and chassis plant on April 21 (the first Tuesday after Easter) with 250 employees who volunteer for this.

The presage department will also resume operations on the same day, with 190 employees. Then, on May 4, the Dacia car plant will resume full operations. The company has notified its employees that new rules have been established in the factory to avoid contamination with the novel coronavirus.

The Ford engine and car factory in southern Romania, at Craiova, will also resume operations on May 4, Ziarul Financiar daily reported. 

Following the announcements from the two car makers, some of the huge network of auto components companies in Romania said they were also restarting at least some of their operations. 

French tyre producer Michelin is gradually reopening its metallic cord factory in Romania, while keeping its two tyre factories closed, the company announced in a press release. The group closed all three factories it operates in Romania on March 28.

The metallic cord plant employs 700 people and delivers metallic cord for tyre plants across the entire Michelin group.

“The necessary sanitary measures have been implemented, according to the legislation in force and with the internal regulations, our priority being to protect the health and safety of our employees. Both tyre plants remain closed, with the exception of certain critical activities,” Alina Marcu, PR manager Michelin Central and South Europe, stated.

A few days later, German group Continental, the largest manufacturer of car components in Romania, said it has resumed activity at its factories in Timisoara, where it produces tyres, transmission belts and air conditioning pipes made of aluminium.

The two Continental factories that resumed operations will adjust production to the subdued demand during the Easter period.  Meanwhile, the hose-producing units in Nadab and Carei will remain closed until April 30.

Elsewhere in the region, Slovenian carmaker Revoz, which like Dacia is part of the Renault group, is set to resume production on April 21. The company, which employs about 3,400 people, will start production gradually, initially in one shift.

According to the management, the restart of production depends "both on the situation in the country and on the decisions of the Renault parent group".

Another Slovenian company, caravan maker Adria Mobil already restarted production on April 6-7. In order to avoid crowding, the company introduced sliding working hours.