Joining BMW, Ford and FCA in suspension of production in the US due to COVID-19 (earlier post) are:

• Toyota is temporarily suspending production at all of its automobile and components plants in North America, including Canada, Mexico and the US, through 3 April.

• Nissan will suspend production of its manufacturing facilities in the US starting 20 March through 6 April.

• Honda will suspend production for six days beginning 23 March, with current plans to return to production on 31 March. Honda transmission and engine plants in North America that serve Honda auto plants also will suspend production for the same time period. Honda will reduce production by approximately 40,000 vehicles during these six days.

• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) has already suspended production in all areas, for all shifts, on 18 March, following the confirmation of a case of COVID-19 among its workforce.

• Volkswagen Chattanooga will suspend production for one week starting 21 March, with current plans to resume production 29 March.

• Tesla will suspend production at its Fremont plant on 23 March.

Underscoring the significance of the auto industry to the US economy, in February, a new study from the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) found that General Motors (GM)—the largest automaker in terms of US market share and second-largest in terms of US production volume—is a significant contributor to the US economy and the economies of the nine states in which GM has manufacturing facilities.

The total employment contribution of GM’s 83,860 jobs is 681,000 jobs in the US economy—including those who work for GM. The analysis produces an estimated employment multiplier of 8.1, meaning there are 7.1 jobs supported in the US economy for every job at GM.

While GM’s total employment contribution supports jobs in nearly every sector of the US economy, almost 60% of the total employment impact of GM’s 2019 US operations was concentrated in just five US economic sectors: manufacturing, professional and technical services, construction, retail trade, and wholesale trade.

On a smaller scale, in California, Tesla stimulated $5.5 billion in sales activity and generated $4.1 billion in direct spending in the state in Fiscal Year 2017 alone.