Land Rover halts Defender and Discovery production in Slovakia over chip crisis

British luxury SUV manufacturer Land Rover has paused production of Defender and Discovery in Slovakia due to the semiconductor crisis. With this, Land Rover has joined the list of automakers that have been affected by the global chip shortage. Earlier this year, several auto manufacturers around the world have been forced to stop production temporarily because of supply chain issue.

Land Rover's Nitra factory in Slovakia produces Defender and seven-seater Discovery. This is the latest JLR factory to be impacted by the chip shortage, reports The Times.

Earlier in 2021, JLR halted its production lines at Castle Bromwich and Halewood plants in the UK. This impacted production of the Jaguar XE, XF and F-Type, along with Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque.

The auto manufacturer has not given any timeframe for the reopening of the plant. The Slovakian facility has an annual production capacity of 150,000 units. Due to the production halt, wait time for the Land Rover Defender is expected to increase significantly. Currently, the SUV's waiting period is nearly a year.

Talking about the chip crisis earlier this year, Jaguar Land Rover CEO Thierry Bolloré said that the auto company's aims to procure its own electrical components directly from the producer. However, that effort has been impacted by the global chip crisis.

During the pandemic last year, demand for personal electronic goods increased significantly. This resulted in massive demand for the microchips resulting in the chip producers channelling their resources to the electronic industry semiconductor production. After the reopening of economies around the world, the auto industry started facing a shortage of semiconductors.