Rolls Royce halts production

Production at Rolls-Royce Motor Car’s Goodwood-based manufacturing plant will be suspended from Monday 23 March for two weeks. According to the company, this suspension will be followed by a pre-planned two-week Easter maintenance shutdown “in order to further secure the health and welfare of the employees of the company”.

The day-to-day operations of the company will be assured by non-production employees who will remain at work at the company’s head office on the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex or who will work from home on a rotational basis. Social distancing measures have been introduced throughout the company.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, “This action has not been taken lightly, but the health and well-being of our exceptional workforce is first and foremost in our minds. We are a tight-knit community at the Home of Rolls‑Royce and I have no doubt that our resilience will shine through during this extraordinary time.” He continued, “As a deeply customer-focused company we are aware that this decision to pause our production will possibly cause some discomfort or inconvenience to a few of our esteemed patrons, for which we apologise while seeking their understanding at this difficult time.”

In recent days numerous car manufacturers have announced similar factory shutdown measures.