Britain’s car production plunged 95 percent to the lowest level for May since 1946 after automakers were forced to idle factories to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the news that BMW and Mercedes-Benz are putting their autonomous drive technology collaboration on hold; David Leggett, Automotive Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view.

Following the news that UK new car sales in the month of May fell by 89% on last year as the market was effectively frozen under lockdown rules.

Volkswagen Group has agreed to pay 9 million euros ($9.9 million) in a deal with a German court to end legal proceedings against its chairman and CEO, who were accused of holding back market-moving information on rigged emissions tests.

Even as automotive manufacturers tentatively restart production lines after the COVID-19 crisis disruptions, the global automotive industry faces a hit to the market that will be greater than in the 2007/8 financial crisis, says GlobalData, a data and analytics company.

TPCA, a joint venture of Toyota and PSA Group, has extended the shutdown of its plant in Kolin, Czech Republic, until at least May 25.

Benzina plans to continue the investment in expanding and developing its Slovak network also this year. The leader of the Czech market ended last year with ten filling stations in Slovakia, and it plans to double their number this year.

Porsche is extending the new car warranty by a further three months for all cars with a new car warranty expiring between 1 March 2020 and 31 May 2020. This measure is free of charge for customers and is valid worldwide.

Ford confirmed today that it intends to restart initial production at most of its main continental European vehicle and engine plants from May 4.

PSA Group warned of sharp fall in demand for autos this year due to the coronavirus crisis after posting a 15.6 percent drop in first-quarter revenue.

Global light vehicle production is now expected to fall more than 20 percent to around 71 million units in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recession, a top automotive forecaster said Monday.

Volkswagen Group’s global vehicle sales fell 23 percent to 2 million in the first quarter. In March alone, sales were down 38 percent overall at 623,000 vehicles, reflecting the coronavirus crisis.

Automakers are restarting production at their factories in Hungary gradually after weeks of shutdown to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. Hungary’s economy is heavily dependent on the vehicle manufacturing sector, which all but halted production last month when the pandemic began to spread in the central European country.

Following the news that the European light vehicle market declined by an unprecedented 47% in March;Calum MacRae,  Automotive Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view.

Volkswagen Group has extended the shutdown of its three plants in Slovakia until April 19 after closing them for two weeks on March 17 amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The SEAT Leon line at the Martorell plant starts to produce automated ventilators to collaborate with the healthcare system in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Going from producing cars to ventilators in record time is the result of the intense work of many SEAT employees. The project is still in development phase and the ventilators are waiting the final homologation.

Toyota said it would extend a production suspension at all of its factories in Europe, with the exception of Russia, until further notice. The plants are not expected to resume output until April 20 at the earliest, Toyota said.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has extended production stoppages at its plants in Europe by at least one more week. The automaker’s factories in Italy will remain closed until April 3 to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Originally the plants were due to resume production on March 27

Volkswagen Group will extend stops to production in Germany as it deals with fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. VW said that it was responding to weakening demand and supply chain disruptions.

Volkswagen expects the car market in Germany to recover in the summer after the automaker was forced to suspend output due to the coronavirus pandemic.