Germany’s automotive lobby group and the nation’s largest union called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to permit auto sales in the country to restart as soon as possible.
High inventory that can’t be sold is risking the bankruptcy of many firms in the industry, the VDA and IG Metall labor union stated in a letter to the chancellor on Thursday that was also issued as a statement.
“The companies cannot accommodate any more automobiles,” the groups stated. “This means that delivery and production come to a standstill or cannot be started again.”
Merkel has been discussing with the automotive industry, which forms the backbone of the nation’s economy, to find a measure to resume production. The talks are aimed on automotive suppliers that might not be able to survive extended production shutdowns.
Factory shutdowns caused by the coronavirus crisis resulted in lost production of 1.47 million vehicles so far, European auto industry lobby group ACEA stated in a separate statement.
About 128,002 people in Germany have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed 3,030 people in the country.
