Romania’s auto industry, the engine of the national economy, loses about EUR 124 million per day due to production shutdowns, estimates Adrian Sandu, general secretary of the Romanian Association of Automobile Builders (ACAROM).

Renault’s Dacia plant, the largest industrial employer in Romania, temporarily stopped the activity between March 18 and April 5 due to the new coronavirus pandemic. Employees will be paid, according to the collective labor agreement, with 75% of the salary.

Ford, which operates a car and engine factory in southern Romania, has announced that employees at the Craiova plant went into technical unemployment on March 19 for a few weeks, depending on the evolution of this pandemic, the restrictions imposed at national level constraints of working with suppliers, but also dealer stock needs. Ford Craiova employees will receive 78% of the salary.

“The automotive industry is the most affected, but I'm not just talking about big companies like Ford or Dacia, but also their suppliers, because it's a domino effect. There are small companies, but also larger ones, some even have over 1,000 employees, suppliers of the two companies, which probably do not have the visibility of the brand that the big ones have, but which will also be suspend their activity and send their employees into technical unemployment, because nobody knows what will happen,” Florin Godean, country manager of Adecco Romania told Wall-street.ro.

(Photo: media.ford.com)

editor@romania-insider.com