Brembo says more virus restrictions in Italy could hit global auto industry

MILAN, Italy -- Further restrictions to tackle the spread of the coronavirus in Italy would mean stopping production in the north of the country and threatening the global automotive industry, brake maker Brembo's executive deputy chairman said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Italian government decided to place the whole country under lockdown until next month, in an unprecedented attempt to beat the virus in Europe's worst-affected country.

However, people were permitted to travel for work, allowing most manufacturing plants in the country, especially in its richest northern regions, to keep operating and for goods to be moved.

But the prosperous northern region of Lombardy, centered on Italy's financial capital Milan and at the heart of the country's virus outbreak, called on the government to introduce even more stringent measures.