Jaguar Land Rover shuts ALL UK plants for three weeks over coronavirus

An e-mail seen by CoventryLive was sent to workers late on Thursday evening (March 19)



The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has seen Jaguar Land Rover forced to close.

JLR has announced it will be closing plants across the UK - including its Midlands sites - for three weeks.

The move from the Midlands car giant comes amid the ongoing outbreak and spread of COVID-19.

An e-mail seen by CoventryLive and colleagues BirminghamLive was sent to workers late on Thursday evening (March 19).

In the e-mail, JLR's Executive Director Grant McPherson writes: "Taking advice from Jaguar Land Rover’s in-house Chief Medical Officer and as well as the UK government, we have made the decision to come to a controlled stop for part of week 13, then for weeks 14, 15 & 16."

It is unclear when its plants in Castle Bromwich, Solihull, Coventry and beyond will re-open.

"The exact date and time will differ by plant and will be briefed locally by your director - please look out for the communication," Mr McPherson adds.

"We plan to start up again week 17, we have decided to plan for this date but we know that the situation in the UK is evolving fast."

Mr McPherson added: "For those employees who we will need to work during this time, we will follow all the necessary guidelines to protect them."

He said: "You, our people make this business. It’s understandable that many of you feel anxious about your health, livelihoods and our future and at this time, I urge everyone to remain calm.

"It always inspires me when I see our team in manufacturing pull together showing that fighting spirit and belief in our future.

"Now, more than ever, I can’t emphasise enough the need to come together as a team, look out for each other and protect our incredible business."

How convenient!

It is unclear when its plants in Castle Bromwich, Solihull, Coventry and beyond will re-open.

Possibly never.

It is extremely convenient.

As a company that has facilities and a big market in China, they knew this was coming, yet they don't seem to have prepared particularly well.

Like you, Dutchman, I can see this excuse ending most, if not all, of their UK operations.

I don't quite get this............

"We plan to start up again week 17, we have decided to plan for this date but we know that the situation in the UK is evolving fast."

Week 17? That is over the 3 month period of 'lockdown' as they call it.

I don't quite get this............

"We plan to start up again week 17, we have decided to plan for this date but we know that the situation in the UK is evolving fast."

Week 17? That is over the 3 month period of 'lockdown' as they call it.

Motor industry terminology.

They are shutting down in week 13 (13th week of the year) and looking to restart week 17. So a 4-week shutdown. HTH?

Jaguar Land Rover in talks over government loan



Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is in talks with the government to secure a loan of more than £1bn, following a drop in sales during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to reports, the carmaker has been in discussions for weeks about a support package.

JLR, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, has seen sales plunge by more than 30% in its most recent quarter.

A spokeswoman said JLR is in "regular discussion with government on a whole range of matters".

She added: "The content of our private discussions remains confidential."

While the exact size of the loan is not yet clear, JLR said suggestions that the carmaker is seeking as much as £2bn is "inaccurate and speculative".

JLR's facilities have been shut since the end of March, although last week it restarted some production at its Solihull plant and at its engine-making site in Wolverhampton.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's recently estimated that JLR will burn through £1bn in cash each month following the shutdown of its facilities and if "severely reduced production" continues over the next financial year.

JLR said sales of its vehicles fell by 30.9% in the three months to the end of March compared to the same period last year. It said the coronavirus pandemic had "significantly" impacted sales.

JLR's request for a taxpayer-backed loan was first reported by Sky News.

To be expected, they were in the mire before this pandemic. The terms of any loan would be worth knowing.

A neighbour tells me he's not expecting to return until August. - Originally he was expecting mid June.

Jaguar Land Rover to axe 1,100 agency jobs across Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Halewood sites



Jaguar Land Rover announced today (June 15) that it is to axe 1,100 production line jobs as the coronavirus outbreak hits its global operations.

The automotive giant confirmed that hundreds of workers on temporary service contracts at Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Halewood, Liverpool, will lose their jobs by the end of this year.

The first wave of cuts will take place by the end of July, it has been reported.

It comes after the luxury car maker reported a pre-tax loss of £501million in the three months to the end of March with sales of £5.4bn.

A JLR spokeswoman told our sister site BirminghamLive: "Through its ongoing transformation programme, Jaguar Land Rover is taking action to optimise performance and achieve further operational efficiencies to enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business.

"Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company has taken the difficult decision to reduce the number of contract-agency employees in its manufacturing plants over the coming months."

A source told BirminghamLive: "All of Land Rover Lode Lane and Castle Bromwich 750 man power men are being sacked off end of July."

JLR has not yet revealed exact departure numbers from each site.

The manufacturer had "gradually resumed" vehicle production at its Solihull plant last month after it was closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Its engine manufacturing in Wolverhampton also re-opened on May 18.

Both sites are currently working a single shift pattern, with 2,000 employees in Solihull and over 300 staff in Wolverhampton.

Its site at Castle Bromwich will stay shut until August 10.

JLR initially furloughed half of its entire UK workforce - up to 20,000 workers - due to the coronavirus outbreak.

That figure is understood to be nearer 15,000 now.

Back around 2000, JLR was looking at only employing contract staff on the lines, purely so they could avoid responsibility in this type of scenario.

I fear for their long-term future, things don't look too good at the moment.

Outgoing Jaguar Land Rover boss gets huge pay rise



Outgoing Jaguar Land Rover boss Sir Ralf Speth has benefited from a huge pay rise during his last year at the helm of Britain’s biggest car maker.

Sir Ralf received a 30% pay rise despite a challenging year for the company with revenue and sales sliding, the Times reported.

It said the pay of Jaguar Land Rover’s chief executive officer rose to £4.44 million during a year in which more than 4,000 workers lost their jobs and the Coventry car maker saw a second consecutive year of heavy losses.

Sir Ralf Speth’s package, which includes his salary, bonus and share awards, is up 30 per cent on the previous year and takes his earnings to £18 million over the past four years.

The details emerged as talks between Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Steel and the Government that might have seen the Government take a stake in the company came to an end, according to the Financial Times.

Sir Ralf steps down from the top job at Jaguar Land Rover next month, when he will be replaced by former Renault boss Thierry Bolloré.

It was revealed in January that Sir Ralf is staying with the company and will take up the position of non-executive vice chairman of Jaguar Land Rover.

Paying tribute to him when Mr Bolloré’s appointment was announced in July Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, said: “I want to thank Ralf for a decade of outstanding vision and leadership for Jaguar Land Rover and welcome him to his new non-executive position in addition to his existing role on the board of Tata Sons.”