02/19/2020
02/19/2020
British automaker Jaguar Land Rover was forced to import spare parts from China due to the impact of the new coronavirus which is disrupting supplies to its factories in the United Kingdom.
“We have brought parts from China by air in suitcases” in order to get around the supply problems, acknowledged managing director Ralf Speth, according to comments reported by the British press.
The group of high-end cars, which belongs to the Indian Tata Motors, warned that it could run out of spare parts within two weeks.
“It’s okay for this week and the week after, and for the third week we’re running out of parts,” Speth told reporters at the launch of an autonomous electric vehicle on Tuesday in Coventry (central England) ).
The boss of JLR, the UK’s largest automaker with three factories that produce 400,000 vehicles a year, said he did not know how long it would take before the supply chain from China was restored.
Not to mention that sales in China, a market in which the group has a huge stake, have been reduced to nothing for the time being, according to him.
In a statement, the group said it sourced first from Europe and the United Kingdom, China representing only a “small percentage”.
“It is possible that the coronavirus may have an impact in the medium term, we are working with our suppliers to minimize it”, according to JLR.
These disturbances illustrate the difficulties encountered by large companies in many sectors, due to their dependence on products or the Chinese market.
Last week, the British giant of construction machinery JCB, for example, announced a drop in production due to a shortage of components imported from China.
ats, awp, afp
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