MILAN -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is restricting access to its European plants following the spread of the coronavirus in northern Italy.
The Italian engineering and design company Italdesign-Giugiaro has also closed its two facilities in Turin after an employee tested positive for the virus.
Cases of coronavirus in Italy, the most affected country in Europe, have risen to more than 200, with three deaths, prompting the government to close off the worst-hit areas in northern parts of the country.
Fiat Chrysler's European home in Turin is the administrative center of the Piedmont region, where there have been three cases of the coronavirus.
In a letter to suppliers and visitors, seen by Automotive News Europe, FCA said access to all of its European facilities will be refused to those who have been in one of the 13 Italian municipalities affected by the virus outbreak.
The letter also bans visits from anyone who has been in China or another Asian country in the past 15 days. People who have been in direct or indirect contact with others potentially infected by the virus are also excluded.
An FCA spokesperson confirmed the letter. FCA sites in Italy are open and running business as usual, the spokesman said.
FCA has no sites in the areas affected by the lock down.
The majority of those affected by the coronavirus are clustered around Codogno, 37 miles southeast of Milan. Along with Codogno 12 towns have been subject to a lock down since Friday similar to the measures taken in China after the coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan.
Production suspended
Italdesign said on Sunday that it will suspend production activities at its two sites in Turin as a precaution after an employee who works at its Nichelino facility tested positive for the coronavirus.
The company said it is working to identify people who had contacts with the affected employee.
Italdesign's headquarters in the Turin suburb of Moncalieri have been closed.
Italdesign has 928 employees in Italy, most of them at Moncalieri. About 100 work in the Nichelino facility.
The company is owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, which acquired it in 2010 from the family of its founder, the legendary designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.
