Automakers dodged parts shortage, but virus poses new threat

The global auto industry handled the first wave of coronavirus pretty well, largely avoiding a shortage of parts when Chinese factories were forced to close. Now it faces fast-moving new problems that may be beyond its control: falling sales and factory workers getting sick as COVID-19 spreads through the United States and elsewhere. Auto companies could be forced to slow or shutter factories, dip into savings and hunker down to make it through the pandemic that could tilt the world into a recession.