Bugatti & Porsche Officially Suspend Production

As coronavirus continues to spread across Europe, both Bugatti in France, and Porsche in Germany, have released press statements regarding the suspension of production.

Bugatti, after the French government this week imposed severe restrictions on which business could remain open, was already winding down production on their own. The reason for their wind-down was because due to travel and shipping restrictions, they could not realistically deliver completed cars to their owners.

As stated in their press release, the factory in Molsheim is effectively closed starting March 20, 2020. Continuous monitoring of the very fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic will dictate when the factory will reopen, although at least two to three weeks of closure is the minimum expected.

Porsche, however, is suspending production voluntarily ahead of any government restrictions or orders. The suspension affects both the primary factory in Zuffenhausen, and the secondary/motorsports factory in Leipzig. The suspension goes into effect March 21, 2020, and will last at minimum two weeks.

Another factor affecting the Stuttgart based company is that global shipping slowdowns have created a bottleneck for important materials. The timing is unfortunate, as they had just announced the new 911 Turbo S models for the Type 992 generation, and were starting to take orders.

In responding to the pandemic, Porsche has also banned any and all business travel for any reason. Any international discussions or meetings will now take place using conference calls or video meetings across the internet.

2020 is looking to be fairly grim in terms of car manufacturers and the financial situations many will find themselves in. We here at Supercars.net only hope that once the pandemic has passed, the world will still want megacars, hypercars, and supercars, and will be willing to buy new ones to shore up our favorite companies.