Despite the fact that Paccar has temporarily shut down its Bayswater plant in Melbourne and the Volvo Group plant at Wacol in Brisbane will shut down for around a month on the 13th April, Australia’s third truck manufacturing operation at Iveco’s Dandenong HQ is continuing to work according to a Facebook post by the company.
Iveco says it has implemented stringent health and safety measures two protect its people and this has allowed all parts of the business to keep the factory open.
“We’d like to share with you how we’re navigating our way through this challenging period, while protecting the health and safety of our people, ensuring business continuity and fulfilling our responsibilities to all our key partners,” said the Iveco Facebook post.
“All business operations, including sales, service, parts and Capital Finance, continue to be available. Our dealerships remain open for business,” the statement continued.
“Our factory in Dandenong, Victoria, which has a key role to play in helping keep Australia moving with the production of our Heavy Duty models including Stralis X-Way and Acco, remains operational at this point. We’ve been able to keep the factory operating by introducing the most stringent of health and safety measures to protect our most important asset – our people,” the company stated.
“From a supply chain perspective, we continue to work closely with our European parent company to monitor both global inventory and supply chain from vendors and we will ensure we keep our customers and suppliers informed on any developments.”
“While the health and safety of our employees remains our number one focus, please be assured that all of us at Iveco remain committed to delivering business continuity for all our customers,” the post concluded.
Volvo says the big issue that has forced its temporary shutdown at Wacol is related to the breakdown of supply chains during the crisis and that increased personal distancing and health and safety rules has and would allow the factory to continue, if component supply could be guaranteed.
The Paccar closure is part of a global shutdown of all its plants which began on 24th March and was scheduled to end on the 6th April but has now been extended until at least the 20th April citing weaker outlook for the global economy as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
