Jaguar Land Rover cuts output due to chip shortage

Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is lowering output at its factories in Solihull and Halewood till the spring, resulting from ongoing issues acquiring sufficient laptop chips for brand new autos.

The motion is predicted to have an effect on the output of fashions such because the Jaguar F-Tempo and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The transfer is known to be non permanent, as first reported within the Guardian.

Within the meantime, JLR will deal with extra worthwhile fashions such because the Vary Rover.

Output of those automobiles has been ramped up in latest months.

JLR’s manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia, isn’t affected.

Fashionable automobiles are closely reliant on laptop chips to manage quite a lot of onboard methods, starting from anti-lock braking and emissions controls to satellite tv for pc navigation and in-car leisure.

However provides from East Asia have been closely disrupted within the wake of the Covid pandemic, whereas carmakers have confronted intense competitors for obtainable provides from different industries.

In a press release, JLR mentioned it might “proceed to actively handle the operational patterns of our manufacturing vegetation while the business experiences ongoing world semi-conductor provide chain disruption”.

“We anticipate our efficiency to proceed enhancing within the second half of the yr, as new agreements with semiconductor companions take impact, enabling us to construct and ship extra autos to our shoppers,” it added.

UK automobile manufacturing nonetheless stays nicely beneath ranges seen earlier than the pandemic, regardless of a rise in October, figures from the Society of Motor Producers and Merchants (SMMT) present.

The business constructed 69,524 automobiles in October, up 7.4% from a yr earlier, however the SMMT mentioned producers have been nonetheless affected by “turbulent” provides of parts.

“There’s been actual shortages within the provide chain, most clearly in semiconductors, which is main to actually erratic ranges of manufacturing,” the SMMT’s chief govt Mike Hawes informed the BBC’s At this time programme.

“[Production] was up in October, however we anticipate it to be unstable as we go ahead particularly when some components come from China.”

Mr Hawes mentioned the UK was “no approach shut” to creating sufficient chips for the automobile business.

“Large investments are required and a few governments on the planet are placing up billions upon billions of kilos to draw funding and construct new fabs (semiconductor fabrication vegetation).

“We needs to be constructing about 1,000,000 automobiles a yr, so when you’ve gotten about 1,500 chips per automobile you possibly can see simply how unimaginable the volumes of those chips you want simply to help the automotive business, not to mention issues like private electronics.”