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FCA to make 1 million face masks a month for North America coronavirus fight

MILAN, Italy — 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 1 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. 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. Related Video:    

GM, Ford, Chrysler halt some Michigan operations over natural gas shortage

WASHINGTON - General Motors said late on Wednesday it will temporarily suspend operations at 11 Michigan plants and its Warren Tech Center after a utility made an emergency appeal to users to conserve natural gas during extreme winter cold. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also said it had canceled a shift on Thursday at both its Warren Truck and Sterling Heights Assembly plants and was considering whether it would need to cancel additional shifts. GM said it had been asked by Consumers Energy, a unit of CMS Energy Corp, to suspend operations to allow the utility to manage supply issues after extreme cold temperatures and a fire at a compressor station. It said workers were told not to report for the shifts at its Orion Assembly, Flint Assembly, Lansing Delta Township Assembly and Lansing Grand River Assembly plants, as well as other stamping and transmission plants on Wednesday evening and early Thursday. GM said it was still assessing when employees could return to work. Workers at its Warren Tech Center were also told to stay home on Thursday. In a video message posted on Facebook, CMS Energy Chief Executive Patricia Poppe said large companies, including Fiat Chrysler, Ford Motor Co and GM, had agreed to "interrupt" production schedules through Friday to tackle the issue prompted by a fire at a Michigan facility and the record-breaking cold. Poppe said the usage cuts by large businesses were not enough, and urged 1.8 million Michigan customers to turn down thermostats as much as they could to cut natural gas use in order to protect critical facilities like hospitals and nursing homes. "I need you to take action right now," she said. Ford said it had also taken steps to reduce energy use at its four Michigan plants supplied by Consumers Energy, but added the situation remained fluid. A spokeswoman said it had reduced heating levels at Livonia Transmission and Van Dyke Transmission, stopped heat treatment processes at Sterling Axle and shut down the paint process at Michigan Assembly. Consumers Energy sent an alert to mobile phones in Michigan asking residents to reduce natural gas use.

Chrysler to reveal next minivan at 2016 Detroit Auto Show

All eyes in the industry are presently fixed on this year's Detroit Auto Show, but over at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, they're already looking towards next year's show. That's when the Italian-American automaker says it'll unveil the next Chrysler minivan. The announcement, made on the FCA Corporate Twitter feed, promises that the next Pentastar minivan will debut in January 2016, which (along with the hashtag NAIAS) suggests the next-generation family hauler will debut at the Detroit show next year. Auburn Hills is expected to replace the current Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan with two all-new models: one keeping the minivan form, and the other shifting into more of a crossover. Just which nameplate gets the new form factor, and which will debut at Cobo next year, we don't know. Odds are good that it'll be the minivan not the CUV, though. Chrysler's minivan has been a winning business for the Detroit automaker, pioneering the segment, outselling the competition and marketing around the world under more brands and nameplates than just about anything else in the industry. The vehicle has been sold as the Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, Chrysler Voyager, Plymouth Voyager, Lancia Voyager, Ram Cargo Van and Volkswagen Routan, to say nothing of long-wheelbase Grand versions of many of the aforementioned nameplates. News Source: FCA via Twitter Detroit Auto Show Chrysler Dodge Minivan/Van Detroit 2016 Detroit Auto Show chrysler town and country dodge grand caravan dodge caravan