Swedish truck maker Scania resumes production (at reduced capacity)

After halting production at most of its facilities in March, Scania said it was gradually restarting production in Sweden, the Netherlands, Brazil and France.

Production in Sweden and the Netherlands started last week, and production in France and Brazil would resume this week.

However, the company stressed that this was a gradual opening, and all locations would operate at reduced capacity.

One factory in Sweden had only opened for two days of the week, and only worked at half capacity compared to normal operations.

“It's far from the normal level of activity and normal volumes,” Scania spokeswoman Karin Hallstan told AFP.

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Hallstan said arrangements were being made to adjust to local regulations and to maintain social distancing in workplaces.

Scania said it was too early to say when production would return to normal, as it would depend on a number of factors including government recommendations, other actors in the supply chain, and how demand would be affected.

“It's a gradual process in the whole global system, and that depends both on us, our suppliers and what demand will be for our products when things stabilise,” Hallstan said.

The truckmaker, headquartered in Sweden, employs 52,000 people worldwide.

It produces 100,000 trucks and buses a year, most of them in Europe.