LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover will reduce or stop production on certain days at two of its British factories over the next few weeks as the U.K. automaker pursues cost-cutting measures in response to falling demand.
JLR posted a 2.3 percent drop in retail sales in the three months to the end of December and has targeted billions of pounds worth of savings to tackle falling diesel demand in Europe and a tough sales environment in China.
The company will halt production on selected days over a four-week period from late February at its Castle Bromwich factory in central England and stop production on some half or full days at its nearby Solihull facility until the end of March.
“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,” the company said in a statement.
“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.”
The move is not connected to coronavirus, a spokeswoman said, which prompted Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to warn on Thursday that a European plant could shut down within two to four weeks if Chinese suppliers cannot get back to work.
JLR builds the Jaguar F-Type, XE, XF and XJ models in Castle Bromwich, according to the Automotive News Europe Assembly Plant Map. The Solihull plant builds the F-Type, the Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover models.