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Jaguar Land Rover cutting production in face of falling demand

LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover will reduce or stop production on certain days at two of its British factories over the next few weeks as Britain's biggest carmaker pursues cost-cutting measures in response to falling demand. JLR posted a 2.3% drop in retail sales in the three months to the end of December and has targeted billions of pounds worth of savings to tackle falling diesel demand in Europe and a tough sales environment in China. The firm will halt production on selected days over a four-week period from late February at its Castle Bromwich factory in central England and stop production on some half or full days at its nearby Solihull facility until the end of March. "The external environment remains challenging for our industry and the company is taking decisive actions to achieve the necessary operational efficiencies to safeguard long-term success," the company said in a statement. "We have confirmed that Solihull and Castle Bromwich will make some minor changes to their production schedules to reflect fluctuating demand globally, whilst still meeting customer needs." The move is not connected to coronavirus, a spokeswoman said, which prompted Fiat Chrysler to warn on Thursday that a European plant could shut down within two to four weeks if Chinese parts suppliers cannot get back to work. Related Video:

Jaguar Land Rover said to favor Europe rather than US for new plant

With its plants running at full tilt, Jaguar Land Rover is in desperate need of additional manufacturing capacity. That's led to reports that the Indian-owned British company was looking to join European, Japanese and Korean automakers in America's southern states, all while it opened new plants in the UK and China. The company even announced it would be building the Land Rover Discovery Sport in Brazil. Now, though, reports are suggesting that JLR is looking at Europe for a new facility, rather than the US, with Automotive News claiming the company's execs are eyeing the lower costs afforded by Austria and Turkey. The report cites the Birmingham Post (UK), the broadsheet that's closest to the company's headquarters. According to the original report, labor costs and wage disputes with unions are ruling out another factory in the UK, while those same disputes with labor outfits may also be souring the automaker on a US facility. "At this stage Europe seems more likely than America. The union pay dispute had a big effect," an unnamed source told the Post. "There is a feeling of alienation that has been left over from the way the pay talks were handled." JLR, meanwhile, offered a solid no comment to the Post, with a spokesperson saying, "No decision has been taken on future manufacturing locations. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to increase our manufacturing footprint in the future." Related Video:

Never-was Jaguar C-X75 hybrid supercar driven by Autocar

There's lucky, and then there's "I got to drive the Jaguar C-X75." The crew from Autocar is among the handful of souls who can honestly make the latter statement. Jaguar invited the publication down for a little time in both the passenger and driver seats around the automaker's proving grounds. While there's no end to the jealousy oozing from our pores, the good news is that there were a few cameras on hand to capture the experience. As you may recollect, the C-X75 Concept was a unique hybrid supercar concept built to duke it out with the likes of the Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and the McLaren P1. The British automaker put it on track for production, but unfortunately stopped the project about six months ago.
With a twincharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine capable of revving to 10,000 rpm, the C-X75 concept yields 502 horsepower and gets partnered with four electric motors - one at each wheels. A 19kWh lithium-ion battery pack serves up 300kW of power, and combined, the motors and battery are capable of yielding an additional 194 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Combined, the driveline is good for more than 850 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque. Said another way, the C-X75 will do the 0-60 miles per hour dance in under three seconds.
And Autocar got to drive it. You can watch the video for yourself by scrolling below.