The novel coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the global economy and Volkswagen is apparently its latest victim. According to VW, the German automaker will temporarily shut down production "at the vast majority of its plants" starting this Friday. For now, the report does not specifically mention which VW production facilities will close its doors but given this is a global pandemic situation, it's fair to assume this will apply to factories across the planet.

What's for certain is that VW plants in Spain, Portugal, Slovakia, and Italy will close "before the end of this week." German and other European plants will follow "in the coming weeks." VW stresses this decision is being carried out in consideration of the health and welfare of its factory employees whose "work is carried out shoulder to shoulder… on the assembly lines."