On the banks of the Rhine in northeastern France, half of the auto-parts factory run by Arnaud Bailo stands silent, shut down by the coronavirus pandemic that hit the Grand Est region with particular ferocity, reorts the Financial Times.
“To see a factory in the dark, with no noise for two months — I’ve never lived through anything like this,” said Mr Bailo, walking between machines that cost €230m in 2013 and which should be churning out transmissions for Germany’s BMW.
Last year the Punch Powerglide factory in Strasbourg generated €350m-€400m in sales. Demand from Asian carmakers, which have started to produce again, is providing some business. But revenues were down 95 per cent in April, Mr Bailo said. “I think we’ll be a bit better in May, around 20 per cent [compared with last year]”, he added.
The uncertainty facing Mr Bailo — who predicts the whole factory will not be operational until at least June and even then at reduced capacity — is echoed across France as Covid-19 wreaks havoc on the economy.
The Grand Est, which takes in the Champagne region and more industrialised Alsace on the German border, is particularly vulnerable. Alongside Paris, it was hit hardest by the virus after an outbreak among an evangelical church congregation in Mulhouse, 100km south of Strasbourg, in February.
Of the more than 27,000 coronavirus deaths in France so far, close to 5,000 have been in the Grand Est. Jean Rottner, the region’s president, does not see the local economy getting back to pre-crisis levels for two to four years. “Everyone has been hit hard. Tourism has gone to zero,” he said. The auto sector “has also been heavily impacted”.