THE UK’s biggest car maker, Jaguar Land Rover, will halt production at its British factories for a week in November, its boss said yesterday, joining BMW and Toyota in plans to help mitigate any immediate disruption from a no-deal Brexit.

The car industry, which is Britain’s biggest exporter of goods, has been vocal about its concerns that a disorderly departure from the European Union could disrupt the flow of components and vehicles, ruining production processes and damaging the viability of factories.

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UK prime minister Boris Johnson has vowed to take Britain out of the EU, with or without an exit deal, on October 31.

However, it remains unclear whether that will actually happen or if Brexit will be delayed, put back to a referendum, or even cancelled.

Chief executive Ralf Speth said that Jaguar Land Rover had to make plans now, including a stop to production at its four British factories during the opening week of November.

“We cannot think about it, we just have to do it,” he told reporters at an event in Gaydon, central England, to mark the opening of a new advanced product creation centre.

“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,” Mr Speth said.

The move will affect the firm’s three car factories, which built just under a third of Britain’s 1.5 million cars last year, and its engine facility based in Wolverhampton.

Toyota said in August it would not build cars at its British factory on November 1, while BMW will halt production at its Oxford plant on October 31 and November 1.

Reuters

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