Automotive: French PSA gradually reopens its Kenitra plant

The French carmaker PSA will restart gradually its Kenitra factory in Morocco on May 6 within the frame of the decision of the Peugeot-Citroen group to start this week reopening its plants closed since mid-March due to coronavirus lockdown.

PSA said it has reinforced health and safety measures at production sites, such as checking the temperatures of employees, and supplying masks, hydro-alcoholic gel and protective glasses, and social distancing between staff.

A first wave of the gradual and secured production is planned between May 4 and May 11, with French sites gradually re-starting operations from May 11 onwards.

As of this week, production will gradually resume in Kenitra (Morocco) and Trnava (Slovakia) as well as in Mangualde (Portugal), said Yann Vincent, Executive Vice-Pdt of Groupe PSA.

“Protecting our employees and protecting our company remain the two intangible principles for the conduct of our operations. Our enhanced measures protocol offers a high level of protection to our employees and is the first criterion for restarting our production sites”, he stressed.

For its part, French carmaker Renault said it would gradually reopen its production plants in Tangier and Casablanca, closed as protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic.

Several car manufacturers have recently announced gradual restart of their production, including Mercedes, Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota…