Jaguar Land Rover will ‘bounce back’ says Midlands Mayor
JAGUAR Land Rover has been tipped to ‘bounce back’ from its recent struggles by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street. That was the verdict of Mr Street in the wake of the inaugural meeting of an organisation set up to help support the Coventry car maker after it announced it would be shedding 4,500 jobs. The region’s mayor made the claim while pitching the West Midlands’ Local Industrial Strategy at Parliament on Wednesday, January 16. The Conservative mayor also said he believed the car maker would still be an important part of the future of the West Midlands. Mr Street said the recent announcement that Jaguar Land Rover was to axe 4,500 jobs was “very unfortunate” for the company, and stressed the importance of supporting employees who leave the company. Jaguar Land Rover launched a voluntary redundancy programme following its job cuts announcement, which is part of a £2.5billion costsaving initiative. The car maker is facing challenging times because of slowing sales in China, declining demand for diesel cars and uncertainty over Brexit. Mr Street said the first meeting of the Jaguar Land Rover Partnership, which took place in Birmingham on Monday, some The for “really Local the January company. Industrial important 14, had Strategy opportunities” identified has a particular autonomous emphasis vehicles, on and electric Mr Street and believes Jaguar Land Rover could play a vital role in developing these industries in the future. “If you think of how many companies there are in the supply chain, and if you think of all the small manufacturers that may be tier three or four, it’s a huge number of companies,” he said. “And remember the technology for autonomous cars is being used in commercial vehicles as well, and is being used in aerospace. So it’s a lot more than one company. “I think the unanimous view from the good very catalyst part offering Mr meeting of unfortunate meeting.” Street that for the that response was added: best that meeting and support “Obviously it has sad was got was, what to a really those to and the it’s be individuals. really “But important actually opportunities. from it are some to “So identify Jaguar what Land really Rover mattered were able to them in their strategy, and then whether it be central government, regional government or local government, we’ve all got an opportunity to help in that, and that’s why it’s called the development partnership. “And actually I think everyone came away thinking ‘gosh this is an incredibly exciting strategy for the biggest private sector employer in the West Midlands, and we’ve all got a role to do to make this a success.’ “So my message from it, and this is absolutely JLR’s message as well, is that JLR will bounce back, and be a really critical part of our economy going forward.” The Local Industrial Strategy, the first of its kind in the UK, has already gone out to consultation with business leaders, with the final draft being presented at Parliament. It features, among other things, a focus on a regional skills system, high quality housing, becoming the UK centre for innovation in new forms of transport such as driverless vehicles and becoming the UK’s leading exporting region.