PRAGUE: The Czech Republic's biggest exporter, Skoda Auto, restarted production on Monday but the auto sector faces a shaky relaunch with the coronavirus outbreak hammering demand for cars.
On Monday, Czech shops up to 2,500 sqm and places like fitness centres reopened under the government's phased plans. Around 90per cent of Czech automotive firms have shut or limited output since March. Nearly all should resume in the coming weeks, the Automotive Industry Association said.A 36per cent drop in production last month cost carmakers and suppliers 67 billion crowns in revenue, AutoSAP said. Its director, Zdenek Petzl, said almost all April production would be lost before a return to 60per cent of capacity in May."The beginning of the restart will be pretty shaky," Petzl said.
Koyo Bearings Czech Republic, part of Japan's JTEKT Corporation, relaunched this month after a two-week outage. Production has run at 10-90per cent each week since, with 60per cent of normal capacity planned for this week, company president Petr Novak said.