Jaguar Land Rover couldn’t have had much worse of a time for production to be halted for what’s expected to be 70 days:
- JLR had begun booking positive results from a turnaround plan that cut costs, reduced staff and aligned production with demand.
- Brexit was finally settled.
- The company’s turmoil in China was coming under control as sales started recovering.
The launch of several new high-volume and high-profit vehicles — such as the new generation of the Land Rover Defender and a heavily re-engineered and restyled Range Rover Evoque — had JLR officials confident the momentum would continue gaining traction.
The company furloughed about half of its 40,000-member U.K. work force as Britain locked down nonessential businesses to combat COVID-19. JLR closed its three production plants, its engine factory and both tech centers. Engineers, designers and executives have been working from home in an effort to keep future projects on track.
The timing hasn’t been great for CEO Ralf Speth, either. He was asked by parent company Tata Motors to put off his retirement, according to Bloomberg News. It was scheduled for September, when he turns 65.
JLR says Speth and his senior management team took pay cuts ranging from 10 to 30 percent for one quarter.
The company’s 2019 fiscal year ended March 31 with global retail sales down 12 percent from 2018; it’s unclear whether JLR will have to delay spending on future products. Plans call for the company to gradually begin reopening its plants the week of May 18.