After days of waiting, General Motors has a green light from the government of Mexico to restart the plants south of the border after GM completed the government's health and safety questionnaire.
GM is opening three assembly plants and powertrain and stamping plants that support them in a gradual restart beginning Thursday night.
Here are GM's plants in Mexico:
- Ramos Arizpe Vehicle Assembly: Chevrolet Blazer, Equinox SUVs
- San Luis Potosi Assembly: Chevrolet Equinox, Trax, GMC Terrain SUVs
- Silao Assembly Plant: Chevrolet Silverado light-duty crew cab, regular cab
- Toluca Engine and casting plant
GM’s Silao plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, is one of the biggest auto plants in the large Mexican industrial state. The Silao plant is critical for GM because it builds some of its light-duty pickups in Mexico.
"Having the plant in Silao come back on line will help us meet demand for the new product there," Jim Cain, GM spokesman, said. "But those vehicles are built with a lot of U.S. content.”
More: Huge day as Detroit 3 restart at least 51 plants shuttered since March by coronavirus
GM said it will restart the engines and transmissions plants in Ramos Arizpe and Silao complexes, located in Coahuila and Guanajuato states respectively, Thursday evening.
GM said its assembly plants within the Ramos Arizpe and Silao complex could tentatively restart operations Friday, depending on the status of their suppliers.
The restart date of GM's manufacturing operations in the complexes in Toluca and San Luis Potosí is still being determined, GM said.
Need a shave?
GM de México has developed a robust health safety protocol, following the actions that the company is taking globally and in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Health and other authorities, the company said.
"The well-being and safety of our collaborators have been and will be our highest priority," said Francisco Garza, CEO of GM de México. "After almost two months of suspension of activities, we will reopen our manufacturing complexes applying the strictest sanitary safety protocols."
Initially, one of those protocols was a recommendation by the Mexican Social Security Institute that workers shave their facial hair, Cain said.
In a note to workers at GM's Silao Assembly plant Monday, GM told them that when it restarts with one shift, workers must wear masks and glasses at all times and be clean-shaven.
"There's no evidence that having a beard per se makes you more or less vulnerable to the coronavirus," Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist, a senior scholar with Johns Hopkins University's Center for Health Security, told NPR in April.
Still, a beard could trap bodily fluids from coughs and sneezes, potentially infecting other people in close contact, Adalja said.
As of Thursday, Cain was not sure if shaving was still a recommendation. The Detroit Three are not requiring workers in the United States to shave.
More: What happens in Mexico during next 2 weeks will be crucial for Detroit
More: US auto industry preps for restart — and it all depends on Mexico
Ford and FCA wait
Some measures in GM guidelines are the controlled flow of people in the entrances, temperature monitoring when entering, COVID-19 questionnaire application, use and supply of personal protective equipment and constant disinfection of workstations and common areas to list a few.
On Monday, the Detroit Three confirmed they had the guidelines and certification process for restarting production from the Mexican Social Security Institute.
Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have not indicated a start time for their plants in Mexico. The companies have said they’re monitoring the situation, hoping to begin in the near term.
The Detroit Three started production at 51 of their plants in the U.S. and Canada on Monday. It's critical they get their operations in Mexico running too because of the inner-dependency manufacturing facilities on both side of the border share.
“One of the things that is true about the auto industry in North America is that it’s truly integrated across Canada, the United States and Mexico," said Cain. "That's not just for GM, but for all the manufacturers."
The automakers make parts in the U.S. that are used on their vehicles that are assembled in Mexico. For example, GM's engine plant in Romulus makes the V6 engine for the Chevrolet Blazer SUV, which is assembled in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.
FCA plants in Mexico:
- Saltillo Engine Plant in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila
- Saltillo South Engine Plant
- Saltillo Stamping Plant
- Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant: Ram 1500, Ram Heavy Duty Trucks
- Saltillo Van Assembly Plant: Ram ProMaster
- Toluca Assembly Plant: Jeep Compass, Dodge Journey, Fiat Freemont
- Toluca Stamping Plant
Ford plants in Mexico
- Cuautitlan Stamping
- Cuautitlan Assembly: all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV
- Hermosillo Stamping
- Hermosillo Assembly: Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Sign up for our autos newsletter.
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