A week ago, Ford Motor Co. talked about starting up production at some assembly plants as early as April 6. On March 31, it called off that plan.
Instead, restarting production will be delayed indefinitely, according to Automotive News.
Ford CEO Jim Hackett told a Detroit radio station he wanted to avoid reopening plants too early and that he hoped to get production running after April.
"My gut tells me we're in to May now," Hackett said on WWJ Newsradio 950.
He's not alone. During the the virtual version of Antec 2020, Dow Inc. CEO Jim Fitterling said he doesn't expect much to return to normal until the second half of the year. Or even later.
"My sense is by mid-year, we're returning to work," Fitterling said. "By the third quarter, hopefully, or the fourth quarter we're starting to return to normal, but my guess is returning to growth is probably something that'll be more of a 2021 time frame."