Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is grappling with a critical issue as its workshops face a “breaking point” due to a worldwide parts shortage. Reports from Car Dealer Magazine indicate that the automaker has even exhausted its fleet of courtesy cars as it struggles to meet the demand for parts.
According to the trade publication, roughly 10,000 customer cars across the UK are currently awaiting essential components, with around 5,000 of them immobilized at dealerships. This alarming revelation was made by Andrew Woolliscroft, the UK client care director, while addressing dealerships during a network summit at the British Motor Museum earlier this month.
While the specific models affected have not been disclosed officially, it’s believed that the Range Rover Velar and the Land Rover Discovery are among those facing delays. The root of the problem can be traced back to JLR’s newest parts facility, Mercia Park.
“Mercia is a bottleneck, and we have a backlog of orders,” Woolliscroft explained at the summit. “We have a backlog in inbound. As of today, we have 80 lorries waiting to unload. We have a backlog in packing, as those parts are unboxed and packed into the warehouse.”
JLR, in a statement sent to Autocar, acknowledged the issue, citing its commitment to becoming carbon-net-zero across its supply chain and operations by 2039. As part of this transition, JLR is streamlining parts distribution from multiple locations into one global super center. Unfortunately, this restructuring has resulted in temporary delays in parts delivery to its retailers. The company is working closely with its distribution partner, Unipart, to swiftly address the problem and restore normal service for its clients.
Woolliscroft expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation, labeling it “unacceptable” and noting that it had “nearly stopped workshops from being able to operate.” JLR anticipates that it will take approximately six weeks before the problem starts to ease.
“We’ve run out of cars to put clients into and we’ve run out of space to park the cars waiting on parts,” Woolliscroft emphasized, highlighting the strain on the system.
Concerns were also raised by some franchise leaders and dealerships at the network summit, indicating that these issues have persisted for months, and many customers are understandably “unhappy” with the situation.
Woolliscroft reassured the summit attendees that JLR is putting forth every effort to resolve the problem, with the UK market taking top priority. However, it remains uncertain if similar issues are affecting other international markets at this stage.
