In response to the corona pandemic, the European brands of the TRATON GROUP will temporary close several plants in Europe and request temporary unemployment assistance (so called “Kurzarbeit”) to support its workers in Germany during the shutdown. “It is becoming harder and harder to supply our plants due to the spread of the coronavirus in Europe,” said Andreas Renschler, CEO of TRATON and member of the Management Board of Volkswagen AG. “Because we also want our workforce to remain healthy, we will significantly slow production or temporarily halt it completely. At the same time, we are doing everything we can to keep service and replacement parts flowing to our customers. Supporting overland transportation and thus the delivery of food and medication has rarely been as critical as it is today. We as one of the largest commercial vehicle manufacturers in Europe hold a special responsibility in this unprecedented situation.”
Scania Vehicles & Services will halt production at all of its European plants starting Wednesday, March 25, because of disruptions in its supply and logistics chain. But service and replacement-parts centers will remain in operation, ensuring that Scania customers can continue to supply society with vitally important goods. Scania currently expects the production shutdown to last for two weeks. The production stop will affect Scania employees in Sweden, the Netherlands, and France.
Scania’s management team is working with employee unions at the moment to develop ways to address the reduced workload that will follow the shutdown. “The management team and employee representatives welcome the government support programs that are being offered in the countries where our workers will be temporarily out of work,” said Henrik Henriksson, President and CEO of Scania.
MAN Truck & Bus has requested short-time work (so called “Kurzarbeit”) for a large number of its production workers in Germany beginning on Monday, March 23. Discussions are already being conducted among MAN, employee representatives and government officials. Production at the company’s plant in Munich will be stopped already today, March 19. Other plants will shut down and take the decisions individually. By taking these steps, MAN is responding to increasing disruptions in supply operations to its plants and in vehicle and parts deliveries while at the same time protecting its employees’ health. Administrative employees who are unaffected by reduced working hours are encouraged to use the company’s flexible working hours policy and to work from home where ever possible.
MAN is also cutting back production in plants located outside Germany. The company’s sales and service locations around the world are to remain in full operation to maintain the company’s supply chain as long as possible.
Production continues for the TRATON brands in Latin America. At Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus, operations are still being conducted. The stability of the supply chain is being continuously monitored. Scania’s production in Latin America, which represents about one-fifth of production volume, will also continue as planned for the time being.
A wide range of steps has been taken in the workforce of TRATON SE to prevent the coronavirus from spreading. Administrative employees have been telecommuting since March 13. Business trips are no longer being taken. TRATON has also stopped holding events that people attend in person. As a result, the company has decided to cancel the Annual Press Conference that was scheduled for March 23.
