Luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover is expected to remain open until at least the end of this week as it battles the growing coronavirus crisis.
Management has told staff the decision on whether to continue building cars past this week will depend on supply of parts from the rest of Europe.
JLR has factories in Halewood, Merseyside, and across the West Midlands including in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Solihull and Coventry where it is headquartered.
An email sent to staff by Ian Harnett, executive director of human resources and global purchasing, said: "We plan to keep building cars until at least the end of this week, subject to the ongoing supply of parts from the rest of Europe.
"Please do all you can to support your colleagues as the situation continues to rapidly evolve.
"We recognise that our people at such a challenging time for the business may want to keep coming into work, particularly for roles that cannot be performed from home.
"If so, please discuss with your manager in order that we may support with appropriate social distancing measures.
"Within our company, there are certain business critical roles which can only be carried out on site and we will need everyone’s support to ensure we can maintain these.
"Please continue to work as normal until your functional plan is implemented.
"It is of utmost importance that we all remain calm, support each other and ensure our business is well placed to continue to operate."
A JLR statement added: "All of our UK plants remain open and we plan to keep building cars until at least the end of the week subject to the ongoing supply of parts.
"We will continue to closely monitor and review the situation as it evolves."
Last week, JLR revealed a worker had tested positive for COVID-19 and was self-isolating at home.
JLR has been affected by coronavirus for weeks now, having been forced to shut a factory in China after the outbreak of the disease in Wuhan.
