U.S. Automakers Set to Reopen Amid Virus, Mexico Hurdles

As Detroit gears up to reopen auto plants on Monday, the stakes for the U.S. auto industry couldn’t be higher.

Many U.S. factories have been idled for two months now, forcing carmakers to burn through billions of dollars a week. The losses they reported in the first quarter were just a taste of the financial bloodletting executives are predicting for the April-to-June period.

But despite companies’ eagerness to get back to work, the vagaries of the pandemic, and the whims of politicians trying to manage it, are likely to keep vehicle production at a trickle rather than a flood.