Carmaker’s woes lead to jobs going at supplier

EIGHTY jobs are set to be axed at a firm supplying parts to Jaguar Land Rover.

Coleshill-based Auria Solutions makes flooring and upholstery products for the luxury car brand, which is also going through a major programme of staff changes.

The proposed job losses represent around a quarter of Auria’s workforce at its Warwickshire plant.

Trade union Unite said development was linked to current troubles at JLR.

The carmaker announced a few weeks ago that it was planning to axe 4,500 jobs, thought to be coming mainly from its West Midlands operations.

Auria, which also has operations in Germany and the US, said in a statement : “Auria Solutions is going through a consultation process before finalising a necessary reduction in workforce for the company’s Coleshill plant. A final determination of this action will be made in the coming months, necessitated by several industry and economic forces.

“As a global supplier of vehicle interior components, Auria must continually make adjustments to its operations and workforce to mirror the production schedules and manufacturing footprint of its OEM (original equipment manu- the the facturer) customers around the globe. Jaguar Land Rover is the Auria Coleshill plant’s primary OEM customer.

“We do not speak on behalf of our customers.”

It is not known which department the redundancies are set to come from and Auria Solutions did not clarify this.

Unite regional officer Jason Richards said: “Auria Solutions supplies upmarket flooring and upholstery to JLR and the job losses are linked to the situation there.

“The challenges facing JLR and other car manufacturers are welldocumented – the slowdown in the Chinese market, the issues relating to the change from diesel to electric cars and the growing uncertainty generated by Brexit.

“This is obviously a bitter blow to the workers and their families as well as the West Midlands economy. Unite will be giving maximum support to our members in the challenging days and weeks ahead.

“Lurking in the background is the failure of the Tory government to create a coherent industrial strategy for the UK manufacturing sector generally and the automotive industry in particular.

“This failure has definitely not helped during these difficult times for the car industry, which remains the shining jewel in the crown of UK manufacturing.”

Unite said it had 200 members out of a workforce of 320 at the Coleshill plant.