Ferrari and Fiat look at helping Italy make ventilators in coronavirus crisis

By REUTERS | 20 March 2020


MILAN: Italian carmakers Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler are in talks with the nation’s biggest ventilator manufacturer to help to boost production of the life-saving machines that are urgently needed in the coronavirus crisis, company officials said on Thursday.

Italy is at the epicentre of the pandemic and its government has embarked on a big expansion of the number of intensive care beds, many of which will require ventilators to keep patients alive by taking over breathing functions.

Siare Engineering in northern Italy, where deaths are nearing 3,000 and climbing sharply, is in talks with Fiat Chrysler (FCA), Ferrari and Italian parts maker Marelli to make some parts, source others and to possibly help with the assembly of ventilators.

Gianluca Preziosa, Siare’s chief executive, said the two industries share some expertise, with both the ventilator business and automakers relying heavily on electronics as well as pneumatics.

“We’re talking to Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari and Marelli to try to understand if they can lend us a hand in this process for the electronics part,” he said.

Rome has asked Siare to ramp up its monthly production of ventilators from 160 to 500 after the virus crisis has left the country’s healthcare system in acute distress, Preziosa said.

A spokesman for Exor, parent of both FCA and Ferrari, said that meetings with Siare had taken place on Thursday to study the feasibility of the idea and that a decision was expected in the coming hours.

He said that two main options were being considered: either to help Siare engineer a capacity increase at its plant, with the support of technicians provided by FCA and Ferrari, or outsource production of ventilator parts to the carmakers’ facilities.

A source familiar with the matter said that Ferrari would be ready to start manufacturing ventilator parts in its famous Maranello headquarters, which lies close to the Siare factory, but that the luxury carmaker had yet to make a final decision.

Siare’s Preziosa said that another advantage of partnering with carmakers was their purchasing power, making them more likely to obtain parts that his small firm was struggling to secure amid coronavirus-related disruption to global supply chains.

Three teams in Britain

Over in Britain, some of its biggest companies with expertise in aerospace and cars have formed three teams to produce basic ventilators to help the National Health Service cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

Meggitt, which employs 12,000 people and builds components including oxygen systems for civil aerospace and military fighter programs, is leading one consortium alongside engineers GKN, Thales and Renishaw.

The other two teams are being led by carmakers McLaren, which is looking at how to design a simple version of a ventilator, and Nissan, which is working with others to support existing ventilator producers.

European aerospace group Airbus is working across the process to see if its 3D printing or production facilities can be of use.

“The aim is for there to be a prototype in two weeks and for manufacturing to start in four weeks,” one person familiar with the situation said.

With the coronavirus outbreak taking hold in Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson turned to industry earlier this week, asking major companies such as Rolls Royce and Ford to build ventilators that are critical for helping those who are struggling to breathe.

The head of the National Health Service said on Tuesday that Britain had 8,175 ventilators in the country.

Two groups are acting to co-ordinate the program - PA Consulting and High Value Manufacturing Catapult which was set up by the government to bridge the gap between British business and its powerful academic sector to turn ideas into income.

Airbus said these were unprecedented times and it would help where it could. “Our engineers and technology teams are investigating the practicalities of how we might best support the design, manufacturing and assembly of critical medical equipment,” a spokesman said.

The car companies are looking at how they could help with production of a simplified design of a ventilator, analysing existing models and looking at ways to develop a prototype quickly.

The British government has approached carmakers including Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, Honda, Peugeot-owned Vauxhall, Bentley, Aston Martin and Nissan in the last few days.

McLaren has offered its design and engineering expertise. Others are on standby and waiting for more specific demands from the government.

READ MORE: Tesla's Musk offers to produce ventilators

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