Honda shuts down North American factories amid coronavirus pandemic

Honda has become the first automaker to kick off an extended shutdown of its US manufacturing operations in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The company announced on Wednesday morning that it’s closing all of its automotive production plants in North America for six days due to an “anticipated” drop in demand.

In addition, Fiat Chrysler is indefinitely closing one of its factories after a worker tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Honda says it will pay all 27,000 workers across the closed facilities during the shutdown. The six-day shutdown will drop the company’s North American vehicle output by about 40,000 vehicles. (The company made nearly 2 million vehicles in North America in...

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