Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) won't restart production Castle Bromwich factory until 10 August at the earliest, it has been confirmed.
The plant, which produces the Jaguar XE and Jaguar XF saloons and the Jaguar F-Type sports car, is the base for more than 2000 JLR employees. It will also be the production site for the upcoming XJ electric saloon, which is due to be launched later this year.
JLR confirmed to Autocar that production at Castle Bromwich will "progressively" recommence from 10 August, subject to market conditions. However, there will be "small pockets of business-critical activity" at the site to prepare for new model introductions - likely meaning the factory is being readied for early production of the XJ.
The extended shutdown is further evidence of a dire few months for the new car market and a slow recovery ahead, with a number of British brands such as Aston Martin, Bentley and McLaren recently announcing job losses across the UK.
It will be the last major JLR production facility to open, with Chinese production recommencing back in February and about 2000 employees returning to Solihull last month. The company’s Halewood, Merseyside plant will open next week, too.
Some 38,000 people are employed by JLR across the country, but 20,000 of those have been furloughed under the UK government’s emergency scheme during the coronavirus pandemic.
While European sales of the XE and XF had been struggling to hit expectations before the pandemic, it’s a different story in China. JLR claims the bulk of global demand for Jaguar has been in China, where long-wheelbase versions of the two models are locally produced.
Separately, JLR has today agreed a secured term loan facility with Chinese lenders for 5 billion yuan (around £550 million). This is the first time the company has requested a loan facility in the country.
READ MORE
The car industry now: How will Jaguar Land Rover look after the crisis?
Jaguar Land Rover to invest £1bn in three new UK-built EVs
New Land Rover Defender: Six-cylinder diesel spotted testing
Join the debate
Add your comment
Sell Jaguar
Jaguar hs NEVER made a profit. Sell the brand to the Chinese and invest in Land Rover
Murge it with alpha and
Anachronistic
Too late, I'm afraid. Up to about 2 years ago, if the decision makers had decided to split, it could have been done. Not an easy task, but achievable to the benefit of Land Rover AND Jaguar. Now, with Corona Virus, the money is no longer there to sort the mess out.
The two brands should never have been merged, though. But it is a lesson in life, that no matter what talent you have in an organisation, no matter how large and successful your organisation is - everything can be spoiled by the actions of a single idiot.
THat may sound harsh, but that's JLR reality.
I can just imagine the thought process during board meetings at the time. "Well we can merge Jaguar and Land Rover. Economies of scale, both brands working together, both English, both part of the old BL - yeah lets merge them. Great idea."
Sadly, reality is more complicated than that. P:rimarily, the two brands are totally incompatible. Its a bit like BMW merging with Kia, and BMW Kia selling Sportage's alongside their 3 Series. But, the sickening part? By channeling £billions - all that money - into building lacklustre, characterless, emotionless, square boxes and calling them Jaguar Land Rover dealerships. Yes, lets strip all the brand identity and 'emotion' out of the Land Rover dealerships and build those featurless, immediately forgetable, joint dealerships instead. Simply? The work of a nutcase.
You swap the cars at those JPR dealerships and replace with Per Una, knickers and prawn sandwiches et al, and you'd get a reasonaly accurate Marks & Spencer within 4 or 5 hours.
All that talent in the Land Rover side, the potential for real growth and success. REAL opportunity. Ruined by an idiot.
Tragic.
The long wait to reopen
The long wait to reopen Castle Bromwich is a sad reflection on how poorly the XE and XF are selling when compared to other JLR SUV models
Castle Bromwich goes Electric
Were we not told that Jaguar were readying Castle Bromwich for future electric cars ?
Which electric cars will they be ? A few years ago, yes that is right, we were told that Jaguar was working on the eXJ. Autocar's masters, Jaguar Land Rover, have trailed pictures and stories about the eXJ and still nobody has ever driven one. Autocar and JLR are taking us for fools if they think that Castle Bromwich has been readied for anything but closure.
peetee wrote:
Cars take at least 4 years to develop, so no one is likely to have driven one yet and factories are prepared for new models years on advance, so your post make no sense. Of course that doesnt mean the plant wont close, but no one knows at this stage.
typos1 wrote:
Castle Bromwich is far to large to produce one model, eXJ, so tell us which other electric cars are in the pipeline. The iPace is a disaster, now no longer the stunning car. What else is going to busy the place ?
Keep up 007
CB is where they'll make the XJ, J Pace and Road Rover all on the same alu platform. Hence massive reconfig of factory (but also convenient given current XJ now dead and XE and XF under-performing).
So those three plus lauded Defender, Evoque and with new RR and RRS on the horizon means potentially great future for JLR.
And don't the Chinese just know that ? Read Xi Pings speech from circa 2014 - crush Western capitalism by winning the war through global economic domination. Coronavirus has been the best thing that could have happened to accelerate this strategy. You almost begin to wonder if it was deliberate ????
marker wrote:
So they are all electric on a dedicated EV platform, as yet unannounced ?
Correct...
... but a very clever platform allowing full EV, hybrid and trad combustion to keep as many people happy as possible. Lets just hope they all get to see the light of day...
peetee wrote:
J Pace is a hybrid / ICE I believe. Think there are suggestions that once the XJ is launched the XF and XE will be replaced by an electric car that spans both the XE and Xf markets and will also go into CB. Makes sense this sector is dying.
"Makes sense this sector is
You Tel that to BMW mate!!??! Don't seem to have much truble shifting 3 & 5's just gotta build a car people want and aspire to , neither Jag is that mate!¡!