Ford to shut down UK plants due to coronavirus

Ford Motor is set to bringing forward part of the summer shutdown for its British engine plants to Easter because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Ford will temporarily close production from March 23 at its London site and from the end of March 25 at its Welsh facility.

“Because of the dramatic impact this ongoing crisis is having on the European market and the supplier industry, we have decided to bring forward part of the summer shutdown period for our UK operations to the Easter period,” Ford stated.

Ford said their workers would receive payments at least same as their base pay during this four-week period.

In 2019, the company built more than 1 million engines at its Dagenham facility in east London and its Bridgend plant located in south Wales.

Many of the engines are made for Jaguar Land Rover, which has also said that it would be closing its British plants due to the virus.

About 5,018 people in the United Kingdom have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed about 233 people in the country.