A shortage of gasoline engines – supplied by the powertrain division of failed MG Rover – means that Land Rover is cutting production of the gasoline version of its Freelander model.
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The company is planning to limit sales of the vehicle to the United States so it uses up remaining stocks of the engine more slowly.
Land Rover says it will cut a shift from the Freelander production line in early July. Three hundred agency workers are expected lose their jobs as a result.
“From the beginning of July, we will go from a double shift to a single shift on Freelander,” a spokesman for the British carmaker told Reuters.
The shortage affects only gasoline engines, which account for roughly a quarter of Freelander sales, the spokesman told Reuters. The remainder are powered by diesel fuel.
Owned by Phoenix Venture Holdings Ltd (the holding company that owned MG Rover), Powertrain has been run by administrators since April, when sister company MG Rover also went into administration. Powertrain made engines and transmissions for Rover, MG, Land Rover and other companies.
Faced with a dwindling stockpile of motors and scant prospects that Powertrain will resume production, Land Rover is also rationing its reduced output of Freelanders — the brand’s smallest model in its range.
“The decision was taken to divert cars that would have gone to Canada and the U.S.A. to those petrol-only markets where the presence of Freelander is essential to the presence of Land Rover,” the spokeman added, Reuters said.
These markets include Brazil, China, Greece, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan.
The Freelander represents around 6 percent of Land Rover product sales in the United States.
