'Everyone' did not people would be back to buying cars soon enough. Stock prices of car manufacturers lost 50% of their value. Factories were closed. They could

'Everyone' did not people would be back to buying cars soon enough. Stock prices of car manufacturers lost 50% of their value. Factories were closed. They could have been closed for months or even years. That is a recipe for a liquidity crisis for a company, of which there is no coming back if you can not borrow money. Moreover, even if it was possible to produce cars, people were worried about a deep economic crisis caused by long lockdowns. Car sales are the first thing to go in such a crisis.