Jaguar Land Rover puts the brakes on plant operation

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced it will stop production for two weeks after demand for its vehicles slumped.

The country’s biggest carmaker said the “fluctuating” global market triggered the decision to temporarily shut its Solihull plant from 22 October. The automaker also reported retail sales of 57,114 vehicles last month, down 12.3 per cent year-on-year despite strong sales for new models.

The flagged closure comes off the back of plans to shift all production of its Discovery model to Slovakia from the West Midlands site.

The Unite union described the announcement as “deeply troubling”, although JLR employees’ jobs are not thought to be under threat. They will be paid while the plant is closed and customer orders are expected to be fulfilled as planned.

A JLR spokesman said: “As part of the company’s continued strategy for profitable growth, Jaguar Land Rover is focused on achieving operational efficiencies and will align supply to reflect fluctuating demand globally as required.

“The decision to introduce a two-week shutdown period later this month at Solihull is one example of actions we are taking to achieve this.”