Jaguar Land Rover is to gradually resume production at some of its plants in Europe from 18 May, backed by “robust protocol and guidelines”.

Production will resume gradually at Solihull from 18 May

Operations will restart at its manufacturing plants in Solihull in the UK as well as in Slovakia and Austria from this date.

The carmaker will also resume output at its engine factory in Wolverhampton but hasn’t published a date for reopening its plants at Halewood or Castle Bromwich.

“As countries are relaxing distancing guidelines and retailers are reopening around the world, the restart of production at our other plants will be confirmed in due course,” it continued.

Different measures are being evaluated to ensure the workforce is protected and Jaguar Land Rover said it would adopt strict social distancing measures and would follow the guidance of all relevant authorities in the markets that it operates in.

It added: “In China, we are beginning to see recovery in vehicle sales and customers are returning to our showrooms. Our joint venture plant in Changshu has been in operation since the middle of February.”

It’s also been supporting communities and healthcare professionals during the pandemic, including through deploying more than 300 vehicles globally to support emergency response organisations and producing PPE. In the UK, it’s been making NHS-approved protective visors while Jaguar Land Rover Brazil has been producing protective visors in its Rio de Janeiro facility to support local health workers.