WOKING, England (Reuters) – British carmakers Bentley and McLaren have sought alternatives to existing Chinese suppliers to handle the impact of the coronavirus outbreak which has already halted production at other manufacturing sites around the world.
The virus has infected tens of thousands and killed about 3,000 people, the majority in China, confining millions to their homes, disrupting businesses and delaying the reopening of factories after the extended Lunar New Year holiday break.
Both Bentley and McLaren said their model production, all of which is in Britain, has not been hit so far with Volkswagen-owned Bentley saying it has secured supply of the 21 basic components such as silicon chips it sources from China until the end of the month.
“We’ve re-sourced them,” Chief Executive Adrian Hallmark told Reuters. “We don’t see a break in production yet.”
McLaren Automotive boss Mike Flewitt said the firm was seeking to do the same.
“We are developing some alternating sourcing opportunities where we can but we don’t have multiple sources for a company this size,” he said as the firm unveiled its 765LT model at an event at its Woking headquarters in southern England.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Stephen Addison)
