Currently reading: Jaguar Land Rover to cut production at two plants

British firm will scale back production at Castle Bromwich and Solihull factories as cost-cutting measure due to falling demand

Jaguar Land Rover is set to reduce production at its Castle Bromwich and Solihull factories in the coming weeks, as part of a range of cost-cutting measures introduced due to falling sales.

The British firm’s sales fell by 2.3% in the final three months of 2019, although the company actually posted an increased pre-tax profit. Jaguar Land Rover has introduced a new phase of its Project Charge cost-cutting and recovery programme, with the goal to save a further £1.1 billion - bringing total cost reductions to £4bn.

According to Reuters, Jaguar Land Rover will halt production at Castle Bromwich, where the Jaguar XE, Jaguar XF and F-Type are produced, on selected days over a four-week period from late February until the end of March. It will also stop production on a number of half or full days at its Solihull plant, where the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar and Jaguar F-Pace are built.

In a statement the company said: “The external environment remains challenging for our industry and the company is taking decisive actions to achieve the necessary operational efficiencies to safeguard long-term success.

“We have confirmed that Solihull and Castle Bromwich will make some minor changes to their production schedules to reflect fluctuating demand globally, whilst still meeting customer needs.”

Jaguar Land Rover has been particularly hit by falling sales of saloon cars and diesel-powered models in recent years. While the firm did have some sales hits in the final three months of 2019 – with Range Rover Evoque sales up 30% and Discovery Sport rising 9.2% – retail sales declined for every Jaguar model.

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James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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Mikey C 10 February 2020

When will I-Pace and E-Pace

When will I-Pace and E-Pace production be brought back in house? Surely Castle Bromwich must have the space for the I-Pace now?

TheBritsAreComing 9 February 2020

Corona

This was a very vague statement from JLR.

This decision couldn't have been influenced by the situation in China with nCoV, could it?

TheDriver 9 February 2020

Where’s jonboy4969?

I'm sure jonboy will put the record straight when he's ready. Naysayers won't stop JLR from continuing its march towards a bright, highly profitable future. Their range of desirable and reliable vehicles can only get better. Autocar will no doubt confirm that JLR is the jewel in the UK's automotive crown.