On May 18, Ford reopened 24 North American plants that had been closed by the wide reach of COVID-19. In talking about the restart, Ford Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley cited “several weeks of nonstop work—a lot of thought went into it.” He cited the company’s 188,000 employees, 78 plants (including joint ventures), and 11 engineering centers. “Automotive is six percent of U.S. GDP,” he said. “Ford produced 5.4 million vehicles globally in 2019.”
