Ford Motor Company (F 0.69%) said that its manufacturing facilities in North America, which were closed last week for heavy cleaning, will not reopen on March 30 as hoped.
In a statement, Kumar Galhotra, the president of Ford's North America unit, said that Ford is assessing its options and working with union leaders in the U.S. and Canada to determine the best time to resume vehicle production.
Ford said its factories in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will stay closed past March 30, the date it had hoped to reopen. Image source: Ford Motor Company.
Ford, along with its Detroit rivals, had said on March 18 that it will suspend production at all of its factories in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico until March 30 for deep cleaning and to adjust inventories to an expected drop in demand.
Ford has also closed factories in Europe, as well as in India, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Separately, Ford said on Tuesday that it is working with 3M (MMM -0.66%) and the healthcare division of General Electric (GE 1.30%) on various efforts to increase production of hospital ventilators and protective equipment for healthcare workers and first responders.
Ford said last week that it has drawn down $15.4 billion from existing credit lines and suspended its dividend to conserve cash while its factories are closed.
Ford's credit rating was cut to BBB- by Fitch Ratings on Monday, on concerns that the pandemic might be followed by a deep recession in the U.S. and Europe.
