A weld curtain hangs between two workers at a Fiat Chrysler plant in Windsor, Ontario. The barrier helps protect employees from transmission of the coronavirus.
Photo: Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesLike many in the U.S. auto industry this month, Peter Anthony is busy trying to get his auto-supply business running again after a multiweek shutdown.
But orders from car makers are just trickling in. He had called back only about 5% of his 2,000-employee workforce as of last week, and doesn’t expect to return to profitability soon.
“No supplier out there is making money right now,” said Mr. Anthony, whose Chicago-based UGN Automotive makes carpeting and insulation for vehicle interiors. “Everyone is going to have to be really flexible.”
Auto makers and their vast network of parts suppliers are determined to get back to work. But like businesses across the country, they are facing both complications and costs around worker safety and depressed customer demand.
The coronavirus crisis has led car companies to idle plants across North America, lay off workers and burn through cash.
Many manufacturers have spent the past several weeks putting new procedures in place to keep workers safe upon return and plan to gradually increase production this month.
But rebooting more than 40 U.S. assembly plants—as well as the thousands of component makers that supply them—is likely to be a slow and arduous process, say industry executives and consultants.
With paltry revenues for weeks, auto-parts suppliers are stretched financially and many still lack enough orders to recall the bulk of their staff. Factories in Mexico, which produce nearly 40% of the car parts imported to the U.S., aren’t yet permitted to reopen, and in many parts of that country the pandemic has yet to peak.
An operator at a Fiat Chrysler plant in Brampton, Ontario, installs a removable plexiglass partition in a vehicle to maintain distancing between employees.
Photo: Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesHigh absenteeism is also a concern, with many U.S. companies worried workers may not show up because they lack child care or fear contracting the virus.
Even if the reopening goes as planned, there is still the potential for outbreaks to occur and shut down manufacturing lines again, resetting the whole process.
Some foreign-based auto makers began bringing their U.S. plants back online this month, helped by less-stringent stay-at-home orders in the U.S. South.
Daimler AG , BMW AG and Hyundai Motor Co. have restarted assembly lines within the past few weeks. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. resumed North American operations this past week.
General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV plan to gradually restart many U.S. factories on Monday, after working with the United Auto Workers union to firm up safety protocols.
Workstations at Fiat Chrysler’s Tipton, Ind., plant are marked with yellow boxes to help employees maintain social distancing.
Photo: Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesThe UAW had initially resisted some of the restart plans and is still calling for widespread Covid-19 testing for workers, which the companies say they are considering but don’t believe is feasible yet.
Meanwhile, the factories that are coming back online are running fewer shifts and slower line rates.
GM says it will take at least four weeks to return to full production, and its output will be dependent on buyer demand. Ford’s operations chief Jim Farley said Thursday he isn’t sure when the company’s U.S. factories will resume full output.
Auto makers in all are expected to produce fewer than nine million vehicles in the U.S. this year, the lowest output since 2011, according to industry research firm LMC Automotive.
Some car companies are taking pains to reassure staff that protection is paramount. GM last week sent care packages to all of its nearly 100,000 factory and office U.S. employees, complete with face masks, return-to-work information and a letter from Chief Executive Mary Barra.
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Ehsan Alghazaly, 40 years old, is getting ready to return to work Monday at GM’s engine-and-transmission plant in Romulus, Mich. He has spent the past several weeks caring for his two children as his wife, a nurse treating Covid-19 patients, has been staying in a rented apartment away from the family home.
While he appreciates GM’s efforts to keep workers safe, Mr. Alghazaly still worries about the potential for exposing his family to the virus.
“We’re putting everyone at risk,” he said. “It’s a tough situation.”
GM is confident the new health screenings and other changes made to protect factory employees will be effective in the U.S. because they have already been implemented globally, said Gerald Johnson, head of global manufacturing, in a webinar this past Tuesday.
An entrance at Fiat Chrysler’s Warren, Mich., plant is marked with yellow tape and stanchions to help employees maintain social distancing as they enter the facility.
Photo: Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesMr. Anthony, of UGN Automotive, said he has had employees complain that they could make more money from unemployment benefits, which Congress increased because of the pandemic, than from coming to work.
He also said that with many auto makers still not up to full production, he has had to figure out how to fill orders without having to bring back his entire workforce, a move he can’t afford at this point.
“It’s like figuring out a jigsaw puzzle,” he said.
For some parts makers, absentee rates are running as high as 20% as companies try to recall workers, said Mark Wakefield, head of the automotive practice at consulting firm AlixPartners LLP.
The restart of production in Mexico is also a wild card. Industrial hubs like the border city of Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez have been hit hard by the health crisis and authorities there have yet to allow plants to reopen.
There have already been disruptions in the supply chain. Daimler’s SUV assembly plant in Alabama will again halt production this week due to issues with the plant’s international suppliers, a company spokeswoman said Friday.
“The worst thing that could happen to us is to be the ones who cause the disruption of the global auto-industry production chain,” said Fausto Cuevas, director of the Mexican Auto Industry Association. Customers “are all in a hurry to know when we’ll be able to return.”
—Anthony Harrup contributed to this article.
Write to Ben Foldy at Ben.Foldy@wsj.com and Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com
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