The shortage has been attributed to a significant increase in demand for semiconductors during the pandemic which has seen an increase in sales of consumer technology. The production of electric vehicles is also said to have put pressure on demands for chips.
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JLR produces the XF, XJ, F-TYPE, F-PACE and Jaguar XE at Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands. Halewood in Merseyside produces the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.
"We have adjusted production schedules for certain vehicles which means that our Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants will be operating a limited period of non-production from Monday 26th April,” the company said in a statement. "We are working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimise the impact on customer orders wherever possible."
Commenting on developments at JLR, Dominic Tribe, director and automotive sector specialist at management consultancy, Vendigital, said: “Jaguar Land Rover is by no means the only car manufacturer to be affected by the global shortage of semiconductors. Most other major car manufacturers have already announced production slowdowns.
“For the major car manufacturers, the situation is incredibly challenging and competition for supplies is intense. Normally, if a component is at risk of short supply, this is communicated upwards through the supply chain, so the OEM can plan ahead to meet capacity demands. However, in this case, car manufacturers are competing with strong demand from OEMs in other industry sectors.”
Figures from World Semiconductor Trade Statistics show that the worldwide semiconductor market was up 6.8 per cent in 2020 and is expected to show double-digit growth of 10.9 per cent in 2021, which represents sales of $488bn.
In the US, President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure plan will release $50bn to fund semiconductor manufacturing and research provisions in the CHIPS for America Act, which has been enacted to encourage domestic semiconductor manufacturing and investment into chip research.
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