Renault will not pay a dividend on 2019 earnings, and Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and interim CEO Clotilde Delbos will cut their remuneration by 25 percent. Other automakers have made similar moves.

The French automakers reached flexible working agreements with unions that will allow employees to receive 100 percent of their pay while on partial unemployment.

Consumer confidence has plummeted and registrations have dried up after dealerships were closed by government coronavirus measures, analysts LMC Automotive said.

The automakers' new plans could see Nissan shutter factories in Spain and Renault withdraw from the Chinese market.

Xavier Mosquet, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, led a team advising President Barack Obama in the wake of the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse. He spoke with Automotive News Europe about what’s different this time.

Automakers have taken steps to crisis proof their businesses since 2008, including having much more cash and available credit on their balance sheets.

With their factories and dealerships closed, some European automakers are helping the fight against coronavirus by making ventilators and face masks, while others are donating vehicles, money or workers to the effort.

CEO Ola Kallenius and members of Daimler's management board will take temporary 20 percent compensation cuts. High-level executives will lose 10 percent.

Other countries are likely to see similar declines to France, where registrations plunged 72 percent in March as new-car sales were brought to a halt because of the coronavirus lockdown.

PSA will build ventilator components in its factory in Poissy while Valeo will provide expertise in plastics, mechanical and electronic technologies and help to steer purchasing efforts and training.

Gregoire Olivier was in charge of PSA's China operations from 2010 until 2016. He returns to the role to implement the automaker's recovery plan for the key market where its sales have plunged.

Organizers stopped short of canceling or postponing the show, but they suggested that the traditional automaker displays would not be held this year.

The 3008 plug-in hybrid with four-wheel drive is the most powerful model in Peugeot's lineup.

ZF said it was witnessing markets "collapsing overnight" but production had resumed in Asia and it would be prepared to ramp up factories in Europe and North America once demand returned. 

The industry will suffer an unprecedented stalling of demand as government restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus cause economic hardship.