Fiat Chrysler Worker at Indiana Plant Tests Positive For Covid-19

By Mike Colias

A worker at a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV factory in Indiana has tested positive for Covid-19, likely the first case of a coronavirus infection reported inside a U.S automotive factory.

The employee, who works at the company's transmission plant in Kokomo, Ind., is receiving treatment and co-workers who were in direct contact with the person are under home quarantine, a Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman said Thursday. The plant, which employs about 4,000 workers, is continuing normal operations, she said.

The factory, about 65 miles north of Indianapolis, makes transmissions for several models, including Ram pickup trucks and Jeep sport-utility vehicles, the company's biggest money makers.

Auto makers have been scrambling for weeks to prevent parts shortages from the disruption of Chinese supplier factories from crimping factory output in North America, the main profit generator for Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor Co. Now, companies are readying contingency plans to manage any virus-related trouble at their North American operations.

Fiat Chrysler said Wednesday it will reduce production at its Italian factories as part of an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

Write to Mike Colias at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 12, 2020 14:17 ET (18:17 GMT)

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