Automaker Jaguar Land Rover is flying out auto parts from China to its European factories to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its supply chain.
Jaguar Land Rover opted to fly out auto parts from China instead of using slow-moving cargo ships to ensure that production continues at its European factories. However, its chief executive officer (CEO) is still unsure if the move would be enough to sustain production and keep assembly lines open.
In an interview with Julia Chatterley on CNN's First Move, Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth said: "Parts that are normally six weeks on the ship, we can fly [them] and it's more expensive, but at least we can carry on with the production."
However, Speth mentioned that the company is still unsure whether its Chinese suppliers will all be able to ship the parts that it needs, either by air or sea, given that some Chinese factories are struggling to reopen because of the restrictions stemming from the coronavirus outbreak, as well as the continued increase of the death toll from the sickness.
He added: "It ... depends whether the supply chain in China and the production in China is in swing again."
Currently, the Tata-owned automaker has three vehicle assembly plants and one engine plant in the UK with 35,000 employees, as well as one other European vehicle assembly plant and about 40,000 employees globally.
Speth pointed out that the company may be able to keep its European plants open without the Chinese parts if the parts are not "critical". He said: "Whenever it's a very critical part...then we have to stop the production."
He added that if the missing part proves to be something that "can assemble afterwards, then quite clearly it will produce a vehicle and we will assemble the parts after the normal process."
