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Jaguar Land Rover will shut down a UK plant for nearly two weeks due to a fire at its supplier in Norway in a fresh blow to the carmaker following last year’s £260mn one-month shutdown caused by a cyber attack.
The British carmaker, owned by India’s Tata Motors, told suppliers on Thursday that it would pause production for its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models at the Solihull plant in the West Midlands until April 8, including an already scheduled five-day shutdown for the Easter long weekend.
In a statement to the Financial Times, JLR confirmed “a part supply challenge with a supplier” and added: “We are working closely with that supplier to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and minimise an impact on our clients or our operations.”
JLR’s supply chain, involving about 200,000 workers, had already been under pressure after a devastating cyber attack last year caused a month-long shutdown across all of its plants in the UK, including the one in Solihull.
The cyber incident had already cost the group £260mn due to lost sales and expenses, and affected its vast supply chain involving about 200,000 workers due to the loss of sales and delayed payments.
For the October to December quarter, JLR reported a pre-tax loss of £310mn compared with a profit of £523mn for the same period in the previous year, while revenue dropped 39 per cent to £4.5bn.
One JLR supplier said the production halt at Solihull — which it said could last two to three weeks — was “totally unexpected” and warned that it would lead to “a crucial loss of revenue, putting jobs at risk”.
The company denied that the shutdown would last longer than April 8.
“Suppliers were able to weather the first punch from the cyber attack but another two weeks, I fear could now could be the knockout for some,” Johnathan Dudley, head of manufacturing business at accounting firm Crowe.
The shutdown is the latest challenge for JLR’s new chief executive PB Balaji as he seeks to revive the struggling group with a redesign of the Jaguar brand and the launch of new electric models.
Last week, Gerry McGovern, its chief creative officer behind the transformation of the Jaguar brand into an all-electric, ultra-premium marque, confirmed that he was leaving the company to set up his own creative consultancy.
His departure was reported in early December but the company had said he remained an employee.
Under Balaji, the company plans to expand its footprint in the US with the upcoming launches of its electric Range Rover and Jaguar models, although the group has been hit by President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs.
Additional reporting by Jim Pickard in London