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- '97 Limited
LIVERPOOL, England -- Ford Motor Co.'s Jaguar luxury-car unit said it will produce 15 percent fewer X-Type cars than it planned this year because of slowing demand in the U.S. and Europe.
Jaguar is reducing production at the Halewood factory in Liverpool, England, where its smallest model is built, on six Fridays in September and October and for an additional week in October, said spokesman David Crisp. The company expects to make about 75,000 "Baby Jags" this year, below its 90,000 target.
"The U.S. has been very strong for us but there's a worry that demand might slow toward the end of the year," Crisp said in a telephone interview. "We are suffering" in Europe "for lack of a diesel engine."
While Jaguar is cutting back, rivals such as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are boosting production. BMW said Aug. 9 it's adding 22 Saturday shifts at assembly plants in Regensburg and Munich, Germany, to increase output of 3-Series cars, which compete for customers with the X-Type.
The German carmaker's BMW-brand seven-month sales rose 4.4 percent to 560,000 cars and trucks this year. Sales of 3-Series cars rose 7.8 percent to 348,000 vehicles during the period.
Jaguar is planning to push forward by one year the introduction of a diesel engine, so that diesel-powered X-Types will be available next year, Crisp said. The Halewood factory, which employs 3,000 workers, has capacity to produce 100,000 X-Types.
In Europe, sales of cars with diesel engines, generally more fuel-efficient than gasoline engines, are outpacing the overall market.
The $30,000 X-Type was introduced in May 2001 as the least- expensive Jaguar and has become the best-selling model. It has led to a 60 percent rise in Jaguar sales for the seven months of 2002 to 80,300 cars, including 46,800 X-Types.
Industrywide car sales have declined in the U.S. and Europe as economic growth slows. Demand in Europe fell 4 percent to 9 million vehicles this year through July, according to the German carmakers association. U.S. car sales fell 3.3 percent to 8.03 million.
The Halewood production cuts were reported yesterday in London's Guardian newspaper.
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Sad, the X Type is a nice little car.
Jaguar is reducing production at the Halewood factory in Liverpool, England, where its smallest model is built, on six Fridays in September and October and for an additional week in October, said spokesman David Crisp. The company expects to make about 75,000 "Baby Jags" this year, below its 90,000 target.
"The U.S. has been very strong for us but there's a worry that demand might slow toward the end of the year," Crisp said in a telephone interview. "We are suffering" in Europe "for lack of a diesel engine."
While Jaguar is cutting back, rivals such as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are boosting production. BMW said Aug. 9 it's adding 22 Saturday shifts at assembly plants in Regensburg and Munich, Germany, to increase output of 3-Series cars, which compete for customers with the X-Type.
The German carmaker's BMW-brand seven-month sales rose 4.4 percent to 560,000 cars and trucks this year. Sales of 3-Series cars rose 7.8 percent to 348,000 vehicles during the period.
Jaguar is planning to push forward by one year the introduction of a diesel engine, so that diesel-powered X-Types will be available next year, Crisp said. The Halewood factory, which employs 3,000 workers, has capacity to produce 100,000 X-Types.
In Europe, sales of cars with diesel engines, generally more fuel-efficient than gasoline engines, are outpacing the overall market.
The $30,000 X-Type was introduced in May 2001 as the least- expensive Jaguar and has become the best-selling model. It has led to a 60 percent rise in Jaguar sales for the seven months of 2002 to 80,300 cars, including 46,800 X-Types.
Industrywide car sales have declined in the U.S. and Europe as economic growth slows. Demand in Europe fell 4 percent to 9 million vehicles this year through July, according to the German carmakers association. U.S. car sales fell 3.3 percent to 8.03 million.
The Halewood production cuts were reported yesterday in London's Guardian newspaper.
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Sad, the X Type is a nice little car.
