Jaguar has suspended production of the X-Type for up to three weeks as sales have been affected by uncertainty in the market place and the lack of a diesel derivative.
Jaguar has suspended production of the X-Type for up to three weeks as the manufacturer says sales have been affected by uncertainty in the market place and the lack of a diesel derivative.
reported that the factory in Halewood, Merseyside, will be closed for between one and three weeks in February.
The factory produced 75 000 X-Type models last year, but production would be lower this year. “We don’t want to build up dangerous levels of stocks,” said Jaguar spokesman Colin Cook. “It’s an uncertain environment.”
“We are operating in a very competitive market and there is an increasing uncertainty in global markets. The situation with Iraq does not help,” said Jaguar corporate affairs manager David Crisp.
“In European markets there has been a shift towards diesel cars, so in a sense we have not been competing on a level playing field.
“But we are ramping up for the diesel launch in the second half of this year and that should be a boost. We are expecting the latter part of this year to be much better than the first.”
This is not the first time Jaguar has cut X-Type production. It scaled down production in September last year due to slow demand in the United States and Europe.
Earlier this month, Jaguar said it sold more than 61 000 vehicles in the United States last year, with the X-Type making up half of these sales. In the UK, nearly 30 000 vehicles were sold, with about two-thirds of these sales were made up by the X-Type.
