JAGUAR Land Rover has confirmed it is cutting back production at its Castle Bromwich plant because of ‘challenges facing the car industry’.
JLR bosses said there are no plans to replicate this at the Solihull plant on Lode Lane which is said to be ‘thriving’.
No cars were made at the Castle Bromwich plant over Christmas as there was an extended shutdown.
There are more week-long shut downs planned until the end of March.
It follows the announcement earlier this week that production is to be cut at the Halewood plant in Merseyside where the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport are made.
The manufacturer, which has its headquarters at its base in Whitley in Coventry, blamed lack of consumer confidence for the need to cut production, and said Brexit is partly responsible.
A spokesperson for the company said: “Jaguar Land Rover has delivered another record-breaking year in vehicle sales in what is now the seventh year of successive growth for Britain’s largest car manufacturer.
“However, the automotive industry continues to face a range of challenges which are adversely affecting consumer confidence.
“Ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit is being felt by customers at home, with demand for new cars down 5.7 per cent in 2017, and in Europe where collectively we sell approximately 45 per cent of total UK production.
“Add to this, concern around the future of petrol and diesel engines, and general global economic and political uncertainty and it’s clear to see why the industry is seeing an impact on car sales.
“As is standard business practice, Jaguar Land Rover regularly reviews its production schedules to ensure market demand is balanced.”
So far JLR has said there have been no job losses.
In September 2016 the manufacturer invested £100 million into the Castle Bromwich plant so it could take over production of the Jaguar XE from the Solihull plant.
At the time the arrival of the XE was marked by the company to be ‘the renaissance of the plant, which was slated for closure in 2008’.
The money was for new press lines, body shops and final assembly halls to support production of the three Jaguar models built on the company’s aluminium architecture.
