Coronavirus: Tata Motors extends JLR China plant shutdown
- Manufacturing units in and around Wuhan have been shutdown since the outbreak
- The company will review the decision next week
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New Delhi: Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc, the luxury car unit of Tata Motors Ltd, has extended the shutdown at its manufacturing unit in China amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
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In an interview to The Economic Times, PB Balaji, group CFO, Tata Motors, said the company will next week review its decision to extend the shutdown at the Chery Jaguar Land Rover manufacturing unit in Changshu, about 800 km from Wuhan, the starting point of the outbreak.
JLR has a partnership with China's Chery Automobile Company.
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In response to a query by Mint, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, “The Coronavirus health concern is developing at this point in time, and we are closely watching the situation. It has been the first week and most provinces have extended the Chinese New Year break holiday till the 9th of February. During this period, most employees are working from home."
"Our first priority has always been the well-being of the people. Driven by this ideology, JLR has developed an app that actively monitors the health of its employees – the results of which are reported each day. With such measures, the company will continue to provide requisite assistance that can encourage concerned employees to take the necessary next steps," the spokesperson added.
In an earnings call on 30 January, Balaji had said coronavirus could impact the demand for luxury cars and the company was closely monitoring the situation.
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Tata Motors' consolidated revenue from operations stood at ₹71,676 crore in the quarter ended December against ₹76,916 crore a year ago. This was primarily driven by JLR's Q3 topline, which stood at ₹58,752 crore, up 1% year on year.
The management has taken steps to narrow down losses at JLR, including reducing overall costs across operations, rolling back capex, and new model launches to drive sales.
As a result, China market registered a year-on-year growth of close to 24% in October-December.
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Manufacturing units in and around Wuhan have been shut down since the outbreak of the virus was reported around the Chinese new year.
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