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Jaguar Land Rover: Slow sales force two-week plant closure

Falling sales in Chinese market, and weaker diesel demand are being blamed for the shutdown.


Jaguar Land Rover will close its Solihull factory for two weeks from October 22, on the back of falling demand in the Chinese market.

The British carmaker saw sales in China fall 46.2 per cent in September. The company blamed tariff changes and the ongoing trade war with the US as the main factors in the decline.

Jaguar Land Rover's global sales in September were down 12.3 per cent, although year-to-date sales are down just 4.0 per cent.

"Customer demand in China in particular has struggled to recover following changes in import tariffs in July and intensifying competition on price, while ongoing global negotiations on potential trade agreements have dampened purchase considerations," Felix Brautigam, Jaguar Land Rover's chief commercial officer, said.

Jaguar Land Rover noted in a statement it will continue to "align supply to reflect fluctuating demand globally as required".

The Solihull factory currently produces the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar, Land Rover Discovery, Jaguar F-Pace, and Jaguar XE.

According to the Unite union, no jobs will be lost to the shutdown, and workers will continue to be paid during that period as their hours will be banked.

Des Quinn, a spokesperson for Unite, blamed the UK government's poor handling of Brexit negotiations, as well as its "half-hearted support for the transition to electric and alternatively powered cars".

Last month, the company announced its Castle Bromwich plant will move to a three-day work week until the beginning of December this year.

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