Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is shutting its two primary automobile factories quickly on account of a scarcity of laptop chips.

The difficulties at Britain’s largest carmaker echo comparable issues at different producers, together with Ford, who’ve been hit by a world scarcity of chips.

JLR stated there can be a “restricted interval” of closure at its Halewood and Citadel Bromwich websites from Monday.

A combination of robust demand and Covid shutdowns at chipmakers has additionally hit telephone, TV and video video games firms.

Tata-owned JLR stated in a press release: “We’ve got adjusted manufacturing schedules for sure autos which implies that our Citadel Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing vegetation will likely be working a restricted interval of non-production from Monday twenty sixth April.

“We’re working carefully with affected suppliers to resolve the problems and minimise the affect on buyer orders wherever potential.” Manufacturing at a 3rd manufacturing unit, at Solihull, will proceed.

Citadel Bromwich makes the Jaguar XE, XF and F-Sort fashions. Halewood makes the Vary Rover, Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed up demand for semiconductor chips to be used in electronics comparable to computer systems, as individuals labored from residence, and suppliers are struggling to regulate.

There has additionally been a fireplace at a Japanese firm, a part of Renesas Electronics, one of many world’s largest makers of semiconductors for the automobile business.

Additionally on Thursday, France’s Renault warned that the chip scarcity was worsening. On Wednesday, carmaker Stellantis, which owns the UK Vauxhall model, stated it might exchange digital speedometers with extra old school analogue ones in one in every of its Peugeot fashions, because the fallout continues.

Daimler, Normal Motors and Volkswagen have all suspended manufacturing traces at varied instances in latest weeks.

Trendy automobiles include advanced electronics and are closely reliant on semiconductors, that are utilized in methods starting from engine administration to parking cameras.

In the present day’s automobiles are computer systems on wheels, festooned with electronics comparable to engine administration methods, driver aids, cameras and leisure devices.

All of those want semiconductors, and proper now virtually your complete business is struggling to get sufficient of them.

Final yr, automobile manufacturing was closely in the reduction of on account of the Covid pandemic. Semiconductor suppliers turned their consideration to shopper electronics, an business which was booming.

However when automobile gross sales recovered – and in China that restoration was notably fast – there have been quickly shortages.

Factories throughout Europe and Asia, in North America and Mexico have skilled disruption in latest weeks, and proper now no-one appears certain how lengthy it’s going to go on for.

Because the automotive business tries to rebuild after one of many worst years in its historical past, that is most likely the very last thing it wants.