Jaguar Land Rover production scheduled to restart in May

Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to gradually resume production at three of its factories from May 18.

The British firm says its Solihull plant in the UK, as well as those in Austria and Slovakia, will be the first to reopen, with other locations due to restart once local pandemic-related restrictions are eased.

In a statement, Jaguar Land Rover said: “The health and wellbeing of our employees is our first priority. We are developing robust protocol and guidelines to support a safe return to work.

“We will adopt strict social distancing measures across our business and are currently evaluating a number of different measures to ensure we protect and reassure our workforce when they begin to return to work.

“We continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation and follow the guidance of all relevant authorities in the markets in which we operate.

“Jaguar Land Rover is doing whatever it can to support its communities through the current situation. The company’s thoughts are with those directly affected by Covid-19 and with the healthcare professionals, whose role in combating this virus is appreciated by all.”

Car production across the industry has ground to a halt in recent months as governments imposed strict lockdown procedures. However, some manufacturers have begun to restart production as restrictions have eased and new social distancing measures have been implemented.

The industry was also buoyed yesterday by confirmation from the government that dealerships could deliver cars they sell online during lockdown.