JLR cuts car production due to computer chip shortage
Luxury car manufacturing group Jaguar Land Rover is reducing production at a factory in the West Midlands until the spring.
It is due to continuing problems in obtaining enough computer chips for its latest models.
The reduction at factories in Solihull and in Halewood, Merseyside, is expected to affect the output of the Jaguar F-Pace and Land Rover Discovery Sport.
The move is understood to be temporary and JLR, which has its engine manufacturing centre at the i54, north of Wolverhampton, will focus instead on its more profitable models.
The latest cars are heavily reliant on computer chips to control a variety of onboard systems including anti-lock braking, emissions controls, satellite navigation and in-car entertainment.
Supplies from East Asia have been heavily disrupted in the wake of the Covid pandemic and carmakers have faced intense competition for any available supplies from other industries.
JLR said it would "continue to actively manage the operational patterns of our manufacturing plants whilst the industry experiences ongoing global semi-conductor supply chain disruption.
"We expect our performance to continue improving in the second half of the year, as new agreements with semiconductor partners take effect, enabling us to build and deliver more vehicles to our clients."
