Jaguar Land Rover to cut thousands of jobs

Thousands of Jaguar Land Rover jobs are to be cut next year under a £2.5billion turnaround plan as Britain’s biggest carmaker is buffeted by “three big shocks”. JLR, owned by Tata, has suffered from weakening demand in China, a crackdown on diesel cars and concerns over Brexit, and posted a £354milllion half-year pre-tax loss in October. Analysts are predicting up to 5,000 jobs may be lost, around one in eight of the company’s 40,000 UK workforce.

THOUSANDS of Jaguar Land Rover jobs are to be cut next year under a £2.5bn turnaround plan as Britain’s biggest carmaker is buffeted by “three big shocks”.

JLR has suffered from weakening demand in China, a crackdown on diesel cars and concerns over Brexit.

The Tata-owned company posted a £354m half-year pre-tax loss in October. Alongside it, JLR unveiled plans to slash costs by £1bn over the next 18 months, reduce capital investment by the same amount and target £500m of inventory and working capital savings.

Next month the carmaker will reveal further details of its turnaround plans, which it has prepared in conjunction with specialists from Boston Consulting Group.

Job losses could run into the thousands, sources told the Financial Times. Analysts are predicting up to 5,000 roles may be lost, roughly equivalent to one in eight of the company’s 40,000 UK workforce. Earlier this year JLR shed 1,000 agency positions at its Solihull plant and reduced working hours at other sites. In addition, 200 more jobs are to be moved to Slovakia.

After years of success, since being bought by Tata from Ford in 2008, JLR suffered first from the fallout following Volkswagen’s “diesel gate” scandal and then a Government crackdown on diesel cars. Historically, nine of every 10 cars rolling off JLR’S ramps is a diesel.

Meanwhile, China sales fell by 44pc in the three months to September. And chief executive Ralph Speth has warned that a disorderly Brexit could lead to tens of thousands of job losses.

David Bailey, a professor at Aston Business School who specialises in the car industry, said: “I do expect to see heavy job losses. Three big shocks are tough for any car firm to cope with, let alone a small one like JLR. British government incompetence on Brexit and auto policy hasn’t helped either.”

A JLR spokesman said: “These programmes aim to deliver £2.5bn of cost, cash and profit improvements over the next two years. Jaguar Land Rover does not comment on rumours concerning any part of these plans.”