Renault and BMW resume activities in their factories in Brazil

After the closure of several factories, due to coronavirus, Renault and BMW are the first to resume operations, in São José dos Pinhais (PR) and Araquari (SC), respectively. Both announced a series of measures to prevent contamination. In addition to these, Volkswagen has already announced that it intends to resume production also in May, but for now, the company's CEO for Latin America, Pablo Di Si, preferred not to specify an exact date. In April, the first month full of quarantine in Brazil, the automotive market fell 77% compared to the respective month of 2019. Like Renault, BMW announces that it has reopened its factory with enhanced hygiene and measures of distance between employees, as well as the distribution of mask kits and a rearrangement of the cafeterias. Other than that, the transportation of employees will be done by exclusive buses of use of the brand, with demarcated places and constant hygiene. The employees of the risk groups, in turn, are still apart. Meanwhile, Renault did not detail what procedures were taken, but assured that "a strict safety protocol was adopted with measures to prevent workers." Measures include adapting jobs in production and cafeterias. For now, the employees of the administrative part continue with their expedients at home. After Harley-Davidson, Yamaha also announces the resumption of activities at the Manaus (AM) plant. He said he is taking "necessary measures to prevent Coronavirus and preserve the health of its employees, recommended by the authorities." Among the actions for the resumption, the company will provide sanitized masks, alcohol gel and temperature measurement for all who frequent the common areas of its factory. There will also be an increase in routes within the factory, limiting to 50% of its occupation, in addition to a 50% reduction in the number of people at the same time in the cafeteria. In addition, the company will increase the health and cleaning staff's workforce and change operational schedules to avoid crowding. Anyone who has any activity that is not directly linked to production, will continue in home office, as renault does.