JLR workers moved to three-day week in light of 'Brexit chaos'

According to JLR, the move at Castle Bromwich - where F-TYPE, XJ, XF and XE models are produced - will ‘ensure market demand is balanced globally’.

“In light of the continuing headwinds impacting the car industry, we are making some temporary adjustments to our production schedules at Castle Bromwich,” the company said in a statement. “We are, however, continuing to over-proportionally invest in new products and technologies, and committed to our UK plants in which we have invested more than £4bn since 2010 to future-proof manufacturing technologies to deliver new models."

Jack Dromey, Labour MP for Erdington, Birmingham, used Twitter to say the decision is "a combination of Brexit chaos and the mishandling by ministers of the transition from diesel. Brexit now threatens the jewel in the crown of British manufacturing."

At last week’s Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in Birmingham, JLR boss Ralph Speth reiterated the threat a hard Brexit poses to the UK’s largest car maker, which has been described as ‘scaremongering’ by Sir Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich and north Essex. Jenkin contests the assertion that Brexit will disrupt just-in-time supply chains.