Jaguar has announced it will cut production by some 15,000 units - 11 per cent - for the rest of 2004 due to poor demand.

Output will be cut by about 3,000 units at Jaguar's Brown's Lane plant, which makes XJ and XK models; by 5,300 at Castle Bromwich, which makes S-type models; and by about 7,000 cars at Halewood, which produces X-type cars. Some plants will work four-day, rather than five-day weeks. There would be no job cuts, the company said.

"This is a prudent move that will enable us to bounce out our stocks, particularly in the US market, where our performance has been advertly impacted by exchange rates and the increasingly competitive environment among luxury brands," a Jaguar spokesman told Reuters.

Jaguar's US sales have fallen nearly 25 per cent in July and are down about 7 per cent so far this year.