Off-road
car maker Land Rover has been forced to shed 200 jobs and cut back production
of its top selling model because it cannot get enough engines.
Land
Rover will have to reduce production of its Freelander model because engine
makers BMW have refused to up engine production from 32,000 to 50,000.
Ford,
which bought the company after the break-up of the Rover Group last year, had
requested more engines in order to meet demand.
The
Freelander is now the best-selling off-road vehicle in Europe but sales will
drop 12 per cent to 74,000 because of the engine shortage.
Union
leaders at the company’s Solihull plant were told yesterday that three-shift
production of Freelander would be cut to two shifts at the beginning of April.
www.landrover.co.uk
By
Richard Staines
