Ford has said it would halt production at its German plants in Cologne and Saarlouis for several weeks due to a lack of semiconductors.

The two plants make about 2,000 vehicles a day combined during a normal production run.

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“We will make up for the lost production as best as we can… We are working to improve the situation as soon as possible,” Ford said in a statement cited by SeekingAlpha.com.

A long list of automakers have seen production disrupted, the report noted, including Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Mitsubishi Motors, General Motors and BMW.

AlixPartners has estimated the chip shortage could cost automakers US$61bn in lost sales in 2021.

JLR told the BBC there would be a “limited period” of closure at its Halewood (Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque) and Castle Bromwich (Jaguar) sites from Monday. Solihull (Range Rover) is not affected at the moment. Land Rover Defender and full-size Discovery are assembled in Slovakia and Magna Steyr in Austria builds the Jaguar i-Pace.

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JLR said in a statement cited by the BBC: “We have adjusted production schedules for certain vehicles which means that our Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants will be operating a limited period of non-production from Monday 26 April.

“We are working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimise the impact on customer orders wherever possible.”

The BBC added Renault had warned the chip shortage was worsening. Stellantis had said it would replace digital speedometers with analogue in one of its Peugeot models as the shortage continued.

Automotive sector specialist at management consultancy Vendigital, Dominic Tribe, said: “The global market for semiconductors is now estimated to have a value of $433bn, and further growth of 8.4% is forecast this year. For the major car manufacturers, the situation is incredibly challenging and competition for supplies is intense.”