Ford and Toyota are shutting down plants in Asia and India, and BMW will idle its US factory during the coronavirus pandemic

• Ford and Toyota announced additional plant shutdowns and production suspensions at the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak sweeps the globe.
• Last week, Ford shut down operations in Europe, North America, and South America.
• BMW also said it would idle its factory in South Carolina.
• Almost the entire US auto industry has shut down in the past week; Daimler continues to operate in Alabama, but could confront a shortage of parts.
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After shutting down North American operations last week, both Ford and Toyota extended their actions to India and Asia on Monday as the coronavirus pandemic rages globally.

BMW also announced that it would shut down its factory in South Carolina, effective April 3; the plant builds the German automakers' lineup of SUVs.

Daimler hasn't yet idled its factory in Alabama but like BMW it could confront a shortage of parts due to plant closures in Europe.

"Ford Motor Company is temporarily suspending vehicle and engine production at its International Markets Group (IMG) manufacturing sites in response to the growing impact of the coronavirus," the company said in a statement.

"The IMG production suspensions began Saturday, March 21, and will continue for several weeks depending on the pandemic situation, national restrictions, supplier constraints and dealer stock requirements.

In total, Ford said it would idle four plants in India, two in South Africa, and one each in Vietnam and Thailand. Ford has earlier shut down operations in South American, bringing its entire global manufacturing machine to a halt.

"In these extraordinary times, we must come together to put our people first," Ford IMG president Mark Ovenden said in a statement. "We will continue working across our region to explore additional protocols and procedures to help prevent the spread of the virus and define new work practices to lessen its effects wherever we can."

Toyota said that it was idling a facility in India and shutting down an assembly line in Japan, after a workers there tested positive for the coronavirus, Bloomberg reported.

Automakers shutting down plants have given estimates of around two weeks before they attempt to restart.