Jaguar Land Rover will close its UK plants over the next week, the last of Britain’s major manufacturers to shutter its facilities as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The group’s sites at Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Halewood will all cease production until at least the week of April 20, Britain’s largest carmaker announced on Thursday evening.
Its move leaves Volvo’s Swedish operations as the only significant car plant still operating in Europe, following a week of sweeping closures from every major manufacturer from Volkswagen to Toyota.
JLR’s closures come hours after Ford idled all of its Latin American plants, and a day after the big three US carmakers — Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler — announced a US-wide shutdown of their sites.
“In light of the ongoing coronavirus situation, Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed that it will temporarily suspend production at its UK manufacturing facilities over the course of next week,” the company said on Thursday. “The company’s intention is to resume in the week of 20 April, subject to review of the rapidly-changing circumstances.”
The company said it is “operating in line with advice from the NHS and Public Health England to minimise the spread of the coronavirus, whilst implementing plans to safeguard its business continuity”.
It “will work towards an orderly return to production once conditions permit”, the group added.
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The carmaker’s three plants were the last remaining major sites in Britain, after Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Vauxhall owner PSA and Mini owner BMW all announced closures of their UK sites earlier in the week.
Earlier in the week, JLR announced the closure of its Slovakian facility, which makes the Land Rover Discovery and will soon produce the Land Rover Defender, while the Magna facility that makes the Jaguar E-pace and I-pace models has also closed.
Its Brazilian and Indian plants, which are much smaller operations, both currently remain open, the company said.
Carmakers across the world have been forced to idle production, as the outbreak sapped demand and played havoc with international supply lines.
In the US, a shutdown was announced after tense meetings between the three Detroit-based carmakers and the UAW union, which wanted closures to protect plant staff.
Several North American plants experienced industrial protests in the days leading up to the announcement, with staff downing tools over health and cleanliness concerns.
In China, the car industry has begun reopening following a prolonged shutdown because of the virus, though operations are still ramping up and sales have yet to rebound to past levels.
The shutdowns have left carmakers facing squeezed finances and risks to earnings, with Ford on Thursday cancelling its dividend and drawing down a $15.4bn credit line, the largest drawdown so far by any major corporation since the outbreak of coronavirus.
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