Efforts are continuing to bring back tens of thousands of britons stranded abroad. Ba, easyjet and Virgin Atlantic are among airlines working with the government to fly britons back to the uk. The government has also pledged £75 million to charter special flights to bring home uk nationals from countries where commercial flights are unavailable. Caroline hawley has more. Ive left three children behind, two children are asthmatic. I should have been home, thats the bottom line. I should have been home. Tabassum is one of hundreds of thousands of british people stuck around the world right now. Pakistan is in lockdown. There have been no flights out for two weeks, and there are many, many others in this country alone desperate to get back to the uk, some with pressing medical needs. My mum is a diabetic, so medication is low, its hard to get hold of. We just need some intervention, to be honest. But how to get people back when the world is closing down . This is 0rly airport in paris. Today its shutting indefinitely to commercial flights, just one illustration of the vast logistical challenge of getting people home. This is tom ram on holiday in morocco. The Foreign Office says its helped get more than 8,000 travellers home on commercial flights after travel restrictions came into force. But tom is still stranded. We were only booked here for four days, and now weve been here 17, and now weve got no idea when we are getting home. 0urfamilies have got no idea. I dont know how we are going to pay for it and, yeah, its extremely stressful times. Tyne samuels trip to south africa has also turned into a nightmare. She came to volunteer, now she cant get, out and she says the British Government has been slow to respond. Its kind of nerve racking, its very scary. I live next door to a supermarket, and for two days running weve had riots, and i can see on facebook there are people throwing bricks at the staff that work in the supermarket, so itjust kind of makes me feel unsafe, i dont know, being so close to it as well. Safely back in the uk, a planeload of british travellers arrived at gatwick from peru this morning on a special charter. The government is urging people to take commercial flights where they can, and its promised to organise more charters in the coming days and weeks to bring people home. Caroline hawley, bbc news. Now on bbc news, hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk. Im stephen sackur. Every day, the havoc wrought by the coronavirus pandemic worsens, on Public Health and on the global economy. Economic activity beyond the barest of essentials has been frozen across much of the world. What on earth will the economic landscape look like when this is over . Well, my guest is 0la kallenius, the ceo of one of europes biggest vehicle manufacturers, daimler. What will it take to survive the greatest economic shock in most of our lifetimes . 0la kallenius in stuttgart, welcome to hardtalk, and let me begin with a simple question what impact is this terrible Coronavirus Crisis having on your business . Stephen, thank you for inviting me to hardtalk. This is a most unusual and very challenging situation for our industry. We at daimler are focused on two main priorities as were tackling this challenge. First and foremost is the health and safety of our employees around the world, taking measures in accordance with the authorities, starting in china a couple of months ago, but now also in europe and in the United States, taking measures to protect our staff, and also help authorities and societies to flatten this curve of this pandemic. And of course, second, its the health of the company, so taking measures to protect our cash, managing our cash throughout this most unusual of times. Lets start with the human elements. I think im right in saying that you have roughly 200,000 workers across the world. How many of those people are currently working . Stephen, its even more than that. Were actually 300,000, and its different from country to country. In february, we stopped our production operations in china for a couple more weeks to then start gradually ramping up again. We have Just Announced this past week that we are stopping production in most of our european operations, and also some of our north american operations. So tens of thousands of people at the moment are home, but also, a large part of the company is still working. Are you paying those members of staff who are not working . This is an issue across the world now, of what happens to workers who are laid off as a result of this pandemic. What are you doing . There are different regulations with regard to this around the world. Here in germany, there is a model that has worked quite well for the economy here. Its a law called short working, where you can send people home for reasons of lack of demand or things like this very unusual situation, and the government pays for part of the cost of the wages and we pay for the rest. You are one of europes, one of the worlds, most famous, lauded, historical manufacturing companies. Now, Companies Like yours are being asked by governments around the world to do some pretty extraordinary things, for example, to give over some of your engineering and assembly capacity, to shift from making in your case cars to making ventilators. Are you prepared to do that . We are taking a range of actions to help. This is one of the situations where Everybody Needs to come together and see what we can do to tackle this crisis. And, yes, were helping on many fronts. Of course were donating money. We have donated 110,000 of the masks that we would normally use in our paint shops and in other parts of the operations. Even to what youre mentioning, we have had the first request for making individual components, and we have quite a capable 3d printing operation, and some prototype parts are being made as we speak. So, if and where we can help, were very happy to do so. Lets talk about the financial state your company is in. We all know that the car industry has been under very heavy economic pressure, long before the coronavirus struck, and i believe im right in saying that in the last quarter, daimler actually made a loss, something almost unprecedented in your company. You are in a very weak position, are you not, to withstand the new pressures that come with this crisis. The Auto Industry as a whole is in transformation, a fundamental transformation, where you could almost argue that we are at the point in time where we have to reinvent the original invention that was from the Founding Fathers of daimler. Were talking about moving towards c02 free mobility. The digital revolution changes our products and also the way we work. So, yes, you could argue were turning the company upside down. With regard to our financial results, we have taken measures to strengthen our Balance Sheet and our profitability. Let us be honest are you now in a battle for survival at daimler . At this stage, we are not in a battle for survival. We have a strong growth Liquidity Position and, of course, now were adjusting our production capacities to meet a period of lower demand, which is caused by the covid 19 pandemic. So were very carefully managing cash. At the same time, its uncertain how long this crisis will go on. And, of course, at some point, the industry as a whole, as well as our company, we have to try to get back up again to normal operations and generate more revenue. Yeah, i understand your wish and your desire, but lets look at reality investors are losing confidence in your future it seems. I note that your share price, before recovering a little bit in the last couple of days, your share price has sunk over 40 since this Coronavirus Crisis really hit home. Investors are losing confidence. The whole sector, and other industries as well, have been hit very hard in this very volatile and uncertain financial market. So we have had some big swings in the last couple of days, as you mentioned. It went back up again, unusually high. I think that is a reflection of the uncertainty. How long is the pandemic going to go on . When can the economy pick back up again . So its not something that is specific to daimler. But in a situation like this, its our task to manage our business, manage the cash and make sure that we navigate through this crisis in the best possible way, and thats what were focusing on. Some fundamental weaknesses, it seems to me, have been exposed in your Business Model in the last couple of months, not least your massive and growing reliance on china and the chinese market. You sell more cars by value to china than you do in germany and the us combined, and that has really hurt you as the coronavirus effectively closed down much of the chinese economy from the beginning of this year. Can you learn from that . Over the last five to ten years, china has been an absolute Success Story for us and, yes, we have grown significantly to the point where china now by a wide margin is our biggest market. As the corona outbreak started and measures were taken in china, of course we ramped down production and demand fell away, but its also the first country where we can now see a gradual return to some sort of normalcy. In our production, in our operations in china, were almost back up to normal production and showroom traffic is starting to pick back up. So it could even be an opportunity as europe and the United States now, some couple of months later, hit this crisis, that we can gain revenues in china. So in general, the reliance of china is also an opportunity, notjust through a situation like this, but also for the future. Well, to be honest, that sounds like youre not learning any lessons at all from what has happened to you over the last three months. Do you really want to go forward with china being so utterly central to your entire Business Plan . I know its the biggest Consumer Market in the world for you, but surely youve learned something about the fragility of your model. China is the biggest Automotive Market in the world, by a large distance to number two, which is the United States. If you are a global player, in our case, the leading premium and luxury player in the world, not to focus on china as a Growth Market i think would be a strategic mistake. So of course, this black swan, the covid 19 crisis, has exposed Global Supply chains being dependent on each other. In this situation, our procurement and supply team has actually mastered this very well to make sure that where we could keep operations going, we could also have the supply secured. To turn away from china this point, which we also feel in the next ten years provides the biggest opportunity for growth, i believe would be a mistake. We are going to increase our activities in china and try to grow there. That doesnt mean that other markets are not important for us, of course europe and the United States and other places around the world, we will also seek growth. But were not ruling out one region as a strategic priority just because it happens to be a bigger leading market. Mr kallenius, let me ask you about germany. Heres a quote from your chancellor, angela merkel. She said, since german reunification then she corrected herself and said, no, since the Second World War there has been no challenge to our nation that has demanded such a degree of common and united action. When you look at germany right now, do you believe youre seeing a response from the government which meets the scale of the challenge . The response from the German Government has been comprehensive and, in my view, a good and measured response. What we need is a combination of solidarity and flexibility. Solidarity in terms of taking all the measures that need to be taken to flatten this curve, everything from social distancing to making sure that we have all the equipment and everything that is needed to tackle this medical crisis. But also flexibility, in the economy, for the companies. Yes, were ramping down production now, but we also need to be ready when we come out on the other side to go back up again. And especially, as i mentioned before, the law of short working, that you can quickly take out capacity without having to lay off people, to then be able to turn it back on again, is i think something that is perhaps even unique for germany, and is a good tool that the government has given industry in this situation. So the country is pulling together and we are in a constant dialogue how to manage this very delicate crisis. We are used to germany being literally the engine, the motor of Economic Growth in europe, economic stability. That looks as though its going to be challenged. To quote the president of the ifo institute, clemens fuest, who hasjust released figures suggesting a collapse in Economic Activity in germany in the last month, the German Economy is speeding into recession. There are leading economists who think the countrys gdp for this year could contract by up to 9 . As one of germanys signature companies, businesses, you must accept that this is an environment in which your company is not going to be immune, is facing a profound crisis. Theres no doubt that this challenge is twofold, both a medical one and an economical one. That is why we took such quick action with regard to matching our production capacities with the demand situation that we are now seeing in the market, really managing cash. And i think its absolutely crucial as these things unravel that we watch when can we turn back on again . How can that be done in a responsible way . That is being discussed now, but i think it is maybe a bit too early to make a final prediction of where this is going to go. But, at the same time, being very realistic that yes, of course, this will have an economical and Financial Impact on everybody. Well, let us compare and contrast europe and the United States. Across europe, from your own situation in germany, where the regions and the government are, in essence, operating a form of lockdown, not entire, but a lockdown, to italy and france and spain, where the lockdown is complete. We see in europe a very dramatic and indefinite freeze of Economic Activity, but then we contrast that with Donald Trumps message to the American People where he says, i want america to be back open for business, people back to work, he says by easter, which is mid april. Now, which approach do you believe is the right approach . In the european situation, i think the situation is being managed day by day. So, at this point, we dont know when you can responsibly start picking up activity again, so theres not an exact time frame on that. Weve seen in the United States, many citizens, many regions are acting in a similar way to europe, but also keeping Economic Activity down the road in the back of our minds. What will have to do over the next few weeks is really to calibrate this. How can the covid 19 curve be flattened so that the Health Systems can cope with it . And then be able to, step by step, turn the economy back on again. So in terms of what will happen in the next 3 4 weeks. If i may interrupt. Sorry, youre being very measured, youre giving me a very dispassionate answer, but ultimately this is about an emotional as well as a logical reaction. Donald trump says there is a danger that the cure, i. E total lockdown, is worse than the disease, and he sort of implies in the end of societies is how to sacrifice a little bit, maybe the lives of some of the older and more Vulnerable People in society, to ensure the economy can keep going, that masses. Millions of people have work to do, that they do not go hungry, and that society continues to function. Where do you, as a business leader, sit on that argument . Do you feel any sympathy with donald trump . For us, as i said, two priorities . Health and safety of our employees but also the health of the company. Thats why we are also going through a balancing act. We have not turned off the company completely, we have stopped many of our production operations and weve stopped also many of our administrative operations, but most of our r d is still going. We are of course taking measures, we are dividing Development Teams into two groups. Even the board of the company has been divided into two groups. As we are navigating through this crisis, we are trying to do both. Its a balancing act and i dont think its a situation where its either or and i think everybody realises, including the politicians in europe, that the economy is important and that in a responsible way we are looking for a scenario as to how to get back up again and into operations, as we can see happening in china at the moment. You told me earlier that right now you dont feel this is a battle for daimlers survival, but it could come so. We dont know how long europe and the United States are going to be in the midst of this crisis, we dont know how deep the recession economic depression that comes as a result of this economic shock is going to be, but there are clearly people in germany who are extremely worried. There are ministers in your government who are saying, we may lose some of our greatest and best businesses, and we will, if necessary intervene to do whatever it takes to ensure they are not sold off cheap to foreign interests. We are, and im quoting now the Justice Minister speaking just recently, we are prepared to take National Stakes in these businesses, part