JLR announces partial shut down at Castle Bromwich plant

THE non-availability of key materials due to Covid-19 has forced Jaguar Land Rover to partially shut down production at its Castle Bromwich factory until Christmas.

Production of JLR’s XE and XF cars stopped earlier this week and will not restart for two weeks, the company said. However, production of Jaguar F-Type continues at the factory.

The West Midlands factory employs about 2,500 workers.

A JLR spokeswoman has said that the shortage was not caused by the congestion at England’s ports, which forced the Japanese carmaker Honda to stop production this week.

“As part of its usual business practice, Jaguar Land Rover regularly adjusts its production schedules. Whilst we have strong customer demand, we have made changes to our production schedule in Castle Bromwich due to temporary supplier constraints. We are working with the supplier to resolve this and minimise impact on customer orders," said a JLR spokeswoman.

Companies across the UK are struggling with delays to parts and finished products amid delays at the main British container ports, the rush to import products for Christmas, and global issues in the shipping industry, reported The Guardian.

The automotive industry, including JLR, has been outspoken in its opposition to the tariffs and regulatory barriers that would immediately hit them if no deal Brexit happens.

India's Tata Group-owned JLR was forced to shut down its factories in April and May due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Guardian previously revealed that JLR was only planning to use a small proportion of its capacity at Castle Bromwich, with about 3,500 each of the XE and XF due to be produced until the end of March, according to plans that did not take into account the latest shortages.