Tata Motors Ltd.'s Jaguar Land Rover's manufacturing plant in Solihull, England will shut down for two weeks later this month after the company's sales took a major tumble in China and slipped in other markets, the company said on Oct. 8.

The announcement came the same day the company reported 12.3% year-over-year decline in September global sales to 57,114 units, comprising of an 18.8% decrease in Land Rover sales partially offset by a 4.4% increase in sales of Jaguar cars over the period. Sales in China alone fell 46.2%, the company said, citing import duty changes and continued trade tensions. China and the United States have been engaged in a trade war since early July, progressively putting tariffs on more of each other's goods though the U.K. has no part in this.

"As part of the company’s continued strategy for profitable growth, Jaguar Land Rover is focused on achieving operational efficiencies and will align supply to reflect fluctuating demand globally as required," a statement emailed to S&P Global Market Intelligence said.

"The decision to introduce a two week shutdown period later this month at Solihull is one example of actions we are taking to achieve this. Customer orders in the system will not be impacted and employees affected will be paid for the duration of the shutdown," it said.

The company's sales slipped by 4.7% in Europe in September, including a 31% decline in Germany alone, as a changeover to a new emissions testing system, WLTP, that is much more bureaucratic and involved than the one it replaces, delayed the availability of some of the fast-selling models. Jaguar Land Rover sales in the United States fell 6.9% versus 5.5% for the industry as a whole, the company said.