Jaguar Land Rover’s boss has reiterated the firm’s intention to close one of its UK manufacturing bases, despite speculation that the recent return to profitability could keep all three of the factories open.
Daily newspapers have claimed that JLR has decided to reverse its decision to close either Solihull or Castle Bromwich, persuaded by a pre-tax profit of £32m for the year to March after huge losses in 2009.
But speaking to Autocar this morning, Tata Motors CEO Carl-Peter Forster stated that JLR still plans to close either of the factories by the middle of this decade. "The previous management made that decision [to close one of the plants]; we see no reason to change it," he said.
"It’s simple: one large plant is considerably more efficient than two small ones," he added. "Our intention is to provide jobs for the existing workforce but I can’t count on it."
Forster, who was appointed in February, is currently reviewing all of Jaguar Land Rover’s business, manufacturing and product lines. He stated that he will choose which of the two plants to close only when that process is concluded.
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Re: JLR boss: 'UK plant must go'
I must admit that's the first time I've heard someone say that one big factory is "considerably more efficient" than two smaller ones. For one thing it doesn't seem to reflect the fact that the Jaguars built at Castle Bromwich and the Land Rovers built at Solihull require substantially different production processes, which will likely mean that whatever factory is going to be used to build both of them is going to require extensive (and expensive) modification. That isn't a particularly efficient use of resources. Also most companies I know of tend to spread their efforts across a variety of sites, for the simple reason that it's easier to get a number of smaller factories working efficiently than it is to get one large one reaching the same levels. The Nissan factory in Sunderland is the exception rather than the rule in this regard. If centralisation really makes processes more efficient, then with respect it makes the business case behind another factory in China somewhat flimsy. I'd be quite suspicious of the motivations behind this move, frankly.
Re: JLR boss: 'UK plant must go'
I don't think they should do a thing about it tbh. The only way anything can recover is to let the failures fail and wait for something else to take its place. Why flog a dead horse? In the long term it won't help, people will find other jobs and retrain it happens all the time all over the world.
Re: JLR boss: 'UK plant must go'