Fiat Chrysler to make face masks for North America
Send a link to a friend
[March 24, 2020] MILAN
(Reuters) - Italian-U.S. car giant Fiat Chrysler has confirmed plans to
produce a million face masks a month and said it will distribute them to
emergency services in North America to help the fight against
coronavirus.
FCA, which is also trying to help produce badly needed respirators for
patients in intensive care in Italy, is one of a number of large
manufacturers adapting production lines to make products in desperately
short supply.
"Production capacity is being installed this week and the company will
start manufacturing face masks in the coming weeks with initial
distribution across the United States, Canada and Mexico," it said in a
statement released late on Monday.
The monthly output of one million masks will be donated to police,
emergency medical staff, firefighters and to workers in hospitals and
health care clinics, it said.
The decision to begin distribution of masks in North America rather than
Italy, the company's other home country, underlines the difficult
balance global companies are having to maintain as they weigh where to
offer help in the emergency.
Face masks and other protective equipment for medical staff have been
running out across the world as thousands of new cases of the highly
contagious virus have arrived in hospitals daily.
Fiat's position as a historic pillar of Italian industry makes the issue
of where to provide help sensitive, especially as Italy is the country
worst hit by the virus so far.
[to top of second column] |
A medical worker wearing a protective mask and glasses, who treats
patients suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen in
an intensive care unit at the Oglio Po hospital in Cremona, Italy
March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/File Photo
Both FCA and its controlling shareholder Exor, the investment firm of
Italy's Agnelli family, have offered significant assistance to efforts
to handle the crisis in Italy, where almost 6,000 people have died.
FCA and luxury automaker Ferrari, also controlled by Exor, are in talks
with Siare, Italy's biggest respirator manufacturer, to help it double
production of the life-saving machines.
In addition, the Agnelli family said last week it was donating 10
million euros to fight the virus emergency in Italy.
It said companies controlled by Exor bought 150 ventilators and other
medical equipment abroad, provided vehicles for support of people in
need and were in touch with Italian authorities to help them buy medical
equipment and healthcare products abroad.
As part of the process, an Exor spokesman said on Tuesday the group had
made an initial purchase of 250,000 face masks in China which would be
distributed in Italy and were expected to arrive by the end of this
week.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by James Mackenzie and David
Clarke)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|