Jaguar Land Rover's Wolverhampton site in week-long Brexit shutdown
Jaguar Land Rover is closing its factories – including its manufacturing centre on the edge of Wolverhampton – for a week to prepare for Brexit.
Following the UK's planned exit from the European Union on October 31, boss Ralf Speth said that the business will shut down production for a week to mitigate any potential disruptions, including delays to the arrival of parts.
Asked if the firm was thinking about closing the doors of its British factories, he responded: "We cannot think about it, we just have to do it.
"I need 20 million parts a day and that means I have to make commitments to my suppliers, I have to have every and each part available and I have to have it just in time."
A company spokesman added: "This prudent decision reflects the need to adjust production in the face of ongoing uncertainty caused by global external headwinds, including Brexit, which have impacted our sales volumes."
Both BMW and Toyota have said that they will not build cars at their British factories on the day after Brexit.
A number of companies – including BMW, Peugeot, Honda and JLR – all closed factories in April, anticipating a March departure from the EU.
Production was halted for as long as four weeks, in some cases, leading to a 44.5 per cent decline in output for the month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
