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Tata Motors JLR To Halt Production Amid Brexit Disruption

The temporary pause in production would affect all three of JLR’s car plants in the U.K.

The Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co. plant in Changshu, China. (Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)
The Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co. plant in Changshu, China. (Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

Tata Motors Ltd.-owned Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to halt production for a week at its U.K. plants in April due to Brexit-related disruptions.

Britain's largest carmaker said the temporary production stand-down would take place between April 8 and 12 and affect all three of JLR's U.K. car plants, as well as its engine plant.

"We have confirmed this year's holiday dates to employees across all U.K. sites,” a JLR spokesperson said. “We've also confirmed there will be an additional week of production stand-down 8th-12th April due to potential Brexit disruption."

Britain is set to leave the European Union by the deadline of March 29 but the process has been mired in controversy. JLR has repeatedly warned against a hard exit from the 28-member economic bloc, which would adversely hit its supply chains and put jobs at risk.

The JLR employs just under 39,000 workers at its U.K. sites Castle Bromwich, Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, and Halewood on Merseyside. The plan to pause production follows an announcement earlier this month that the company is to cut 4,500 jobs in a bid to cut costs of up to 2.5 billion pounds.

The company has told the government that, while its "heart and soul" are in the UK, a bad Brexit or a "no-deal" scenario would severely impact the company's plans.