Jaguar Land Rover, which so far didn't face much of a crisis owing to the outbreak of coronavirus, finally issued a warning on Tuesday that its UK production might take a hit form next month. The carmaker said that there could be considerable hindrance in production of cars because of supply chain difficulties, as operations and travel restrictions in China remain crippled.
All global companies having operations in China have been suffering since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. Many have already started issuing warnings that the coronavirus outbreak is likely to impact their performance in the first half of 2020.
Jaguar Land Rover in crisis zone
Ralf Speth, chief executive officer, Jaguar Land Rover on Tuesday said that the company has enough parts in stock to manufacture vehicles in its UK production units for this week and maybe next week. However, he warned that shortfalls would delay productions from March that is also likely to delay deliveries of vehicles. "We are safe for this week and we are safe for next week and in the third week we have ... parts missing," he said.
"We have flown parts in suitcases from China to the UK," he added. Given the situation, with no respite from the deadly coronavirus, it is likely that the British carmaker will start feeling the heat in the coming days. Speth also said that sales have been presently halted in China and the company is still unclear when it will resume, which may further deepen the crisis.
Sufferings continue for businesses
Jaguar Land Rover is just one of the many names that have been facing crisis in production owing to the outbreak of the coronavirus that coincided with the Lunar New Year. The deadly virus has already claimed around 1,900 lives, with most companies in China temporarily shutting operations and many countries putting travel ban.
Jaguar is the UK biggest carmaker and has three factories in the UK that is responsible for most of the vehicle production in its European market. However, like a large number of companies, the carmaker depends on China for the supply of its automobile parts. A day earlier, Apple said that its revenues will be hit because of the virus outbreak. Speth, however, said that Jaguar's factory in China would re-open next week following an extended Lunar New Year closure.
