• HOME»
• AUTOMAKERS & SUPPLIERS»
• MANUFACTURING»

• Article Tools:
• Print
• Email
• Order Reprints

Hit by falling sales in Europe, Jaguar Land Rover is cutting production at its three plants in the UK.

Production at Jaguar's Halewood plant in northern England will stop for a week starting October 27 because of falling demand for the Jaguar X-Type and Land Rover Freelander models built there.

Don Hume, Jaguar Land Rover's director of corporate and government affairs, said: "We're taking prudent action to match production to demand."

In the first eight months, Jaguar's European sales increased to 24,600 from 21,100 compared with the same period last year, according to UK-based market researcher JATO Dynamics. But X-Type sales fell to 8,292 from 9,363.

Land Rover sales fell to 54,261 from 63,669 in the first eight months. Freelander sales were down to 21,935 from 24,999.

Through the summer, Jaguar Land Rover had non-production days at the Halewood plant as well as at its other plants in central England at Castle Bromwich and Solihull.

Jaguar Land Rover also is cutting production at its Solihull factory, near Birmingham, England, to one shift from two. The factory builds four Land Rover models. The factory's autumn shutdown at the end of October has been increased to two weeks from one week.

Castle Bromwich, which builds the XJ upper-premium sedan and XK premium roadster, will have one non-production day per week.

Hume said: "There will be no job losses. Nothing further is planned at this time but the situation is under constant review."

He said Jaguar sales globally are 13.5 percent up on 2007, although Land Rover are down 5.3 percent, but declined to give figures.

Said Hume: "Land Rover will also end 2008 with its second most successful year on Record."