Back in the driving seat

Let’s not begin with yet another summary of how bad the economy is (see all stories, past two months). Suffice it to say that things are a tad bleak. And right in the midst of it all is the automotive industry. Sales of new UK-manufactured cars in October saw the biggest year-on-year decline for any month since June 1991. The industry’s sales forecast for 2008 is 2.15 million, compared with a decade-long average of 2.4 million, and is predicted to drop below 2 million in 2009 for the first time since 1995. All manufacturers are suffering and many are reducing their operations to four-day weeks – or, to use the more union-friendly term, introducing “non-production days”.

At first glance, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) seems to be typical. The two brands, now combined, are both known for making luxury cars while recording poverty profits – and for being passed from one owner to the next like troublesome foster children. While none of JLR’s factories is officially on a four-day week, output has dropped by one-third over the past three months. Of its three main production facilities, Castle Bromwich and Solihull have reduced to single-shift working, cutting out their night shifts, and Halewood has had a number of ad hoc non-production days, with a full non-production week planned for December. As a result of the cutbacks, about 600 voluntary redundancies are expected by the end of January.