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Carmakers have halted production at some sites as governments
around the world have imposed lockdowns on their populations in
response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess last week said the
carmaker might have to cut jobs if the pandemic is not brought
under control as it is still spending about 2 billion euros
($2.18 billion) a week.
Handelsblatt cited participants in the call as saying carmakers
were particularly concerned about the supply chain.
A Volkswagen source told Reuters the carmakers discussed the
situation in the industry and how production could be started up
again after the coronavirus crisis. There was agreement that an
EU-wide approach to re-starting production was needed, the
source said.
"It doesn't help if one country forges ahead and then everything
in Italy or Spain is still at a standstill," the source said,
adding that such a scenario would result in gaps in the supply
chain.
The Volkswagen source said in the talks there had been agreement
that a working group, including the government, industry and the
Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, should be set up
to develop standards for protecting employees when production is
restarted, such as protective clothing, masks, distancing
workers and frequent cleaning of sanitary facilities.
The source said the carmakers also discussed the situation
facing car suppliers and that while big original equipment
manufacturers were well provided for in terms of liquidity, that
was not the case for many suppliers.
A source at Daimler said Merkel, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier,
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Joerg Hofmann, head of the IG
Metall trade union, had all taken part in the meeting with
Daimler CEO Ola Kaellenius, BMW boss Oliver Zipse and Volkswagen
CEO Diess.
A survey published on Wednesday showed Germany's
export-dependent manufacturing sector saw the steepest decrease
in output in almost 11 years in March, as the coronavirus
pandemic forced plant closures in Europe's biggest economy.
(Reporting by Jan C. Schwartz; Writing by Michelle Martin.
Editing by Jane Merriman)
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