LONDON (CU)_Britain’s biggest car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has decided to suspend work at two of its manufacturing plants in the UK owing to a shortage in parts. Accordingly, production at Halewood in Liverpool and Castle Bromwich in Birmingham will be halted for at least one week, starting Monday (26 April).
The carmaker says the shortage in computer chips, which has affected the manufacturing industry as a whole, is a result of the Coronavirus crisis. The temporary shutdown will affect the supply of Jaguar XE and XF executive cars and the F-Type sports cars, Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque models.
“Like other automotive manufacturers, we are currently experiencing some COVID-19 supply chain disruption, including the global availability of semi-conductors,” JLR said in a statement. “[This is] having an impact on our production schedules and our ability to meet global demand for some of our vehicles.”
“As a result, we have adjusted production schedules for certain vehicles which means that our Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants will be operating a limited period of non-production from Monday, April 26.”
As mentioned, JLR is not the only company facing supply issues owing to the pandemic. Several carmakers, including Honda and Renault have said they are experiencing delays in production as a result of a shortage of computer chips. In January, Honda suspended production for the second time in two months, with Brexit also causing supplier delays.
A couple of months ago, the JLR said it would cut 2,000 jobs from its global workforce, although it has not yet announced any dismissals. Moreover, it is unclear if the employees at the plants in Birmingham and Halewood will be paid while work is halted.
