Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover will halt production at its British factories for a week in November, along with the BMW and Toyota plants, to help mitigate any immediate disruption from a no-deal Brexit, a media report said.
At the time of writing, the final terms of Brexit, or even the 31 October exit date, have not been confirmed by the UK government.
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Reuters noted the UK auto industry, Britain's biggest exporter of goods, has been vocal about its concerns that a disorderly departure from the European Union could disrupt flow of components and vehicles, ruining production processes and damaging the viability of factories.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has vowed to take Britain out of the EU, with or without an exit deal, on the last day of October but it still remains unclear whether that will actually happen or if Brexit will again be delayed, referred back to a public referendum or even cancelled.
Chief executive Ralf Speth told Reuters Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)had to make plans now, including a stop to production at its four British factories during the first week of November.
"We cannot think about it, we just have to do it," he told Reuters at an event on Thursday (26 September) in Gaydon, central England, to mark the opening of a new advanced product creation centre.
"I need 20m 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 said.
Reuters noted the temporary closure would affect JLR's three car factories (Solihull and Castle Bromwich in Birmingham; Halewood on Merseyside), which built just under a third of Britain's 1.5m cars last year, plus the engine plant in Wolverhampton.
Toyota said in August it would not build cars at its British factory on 1 November. BMW would also halt production at its Oxford plant on 31 October and 1 November.
This follows BMW's Mini plant in Oxford being closed for four weeks and Peugeot's Vauxhall car factory at Ellesmere Port going down for two weeks after the original 29 March exit date came and went after former prime minister Teresa May's government postponed Brexit. The closures were planned months in advance and could not be cancelled.
BMW had actually moved its annual summertime shutdown to April to "minimise the risk of any possible short-term parts-supply disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit" while PSA brought forward its shutdown in a decision made at the end of 2018, Reuters reported at the time.
Speth also told Reuters today JLR would also change shift patterns at Halewood leading to a cut in output due to the "cyclical challenge" facing the car industry, which has prompted profit warnings and forecast cuts at a number of firms.
See also: JLR chief denies "crying wolf" over Brexit
