Jaguar Land Rover to suspend production at all UK plants for one week after Brexit date

Carmaker follows Toyota and BMW, which have announced temporary plant closures after 31 October

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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will suspend production at all of its four UK factories for the week of 4 November in anticipation of disruption to imports due to Brexit.

The plants include three car factories, which built almost a third of the UK's 1.5 million cars last year, and an engine plant.

JLR said in a statement the decision was driven by ongoing uncertainty caused by “global external headwinds, including Brexit”, adding they have already affected sales.

Speaking to reporters in Warwickshire earlier, the company’s chief executive Ralf Speth said JLR has to make plans now for Britain's departure from the EU, scheduled for 31 October.

"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," he explained.

The UK car industry has long warned about the consequences of leaving the EU without a transition period. For one, sudden delays at the border would damage the vital “just-in-time” supply chains across the English Channel, costing it as much as £50,000 a minute.

JLR joins Toyota and BMW who have both announced temporary plant closures after the Brexit date.

Toyota will stop production at its Burnaston factory in Derbyshire on 1 November.

BMW is planning to shut down its Oxford site on 31 October and 1 November. If Britain leaves the EU without a deal and there is major disruption to BMW’s operations, the carmaker will send its Oxford workers on unpaid leave for at least two weeks.

Anticipation of Brexit has compounded the problems facing UK carmakers. Like their peers around the world, they have been hit by an economic slowdown in China and lower sales of diesel cars, particularly in Europe.

Additional reporting by Reuters