JLR eyes further cost savings as lockdown drives losses to £413m

JAGUAR Land Rover fell to another hefty loss during lockdown and has announced plans for further cost savings, raising fears of more job cuts ahead.

Shutting plants because of coronavirus cost JLR £1.1bn, the carmaker said, as it reported a £413m pre-tax loss in the first quarter.

Lockdown contributed to a 42.4pc fall in retail sales to just 74,067 cars in the three months to the end of June.

Revenues declined in line with sales, falling from £5.07bn last year to £2.9bn during the quarter. JLR said the plunge into the red, which compared with a £383m loss a year ago, highlighted the results of the Charge+ cost-cutting programme introduced by Ralf Speth, the chief executive, in 2019.

The plan delivered £1.2bn of savings and cash improvements during the quarter, JLR said.

As a result, the targets of the efficiency drive are now being increased for the full year from £1.5bn to £2.5bn.

So far, Charge+ has saved £4.7bn and JLR now hopes it will deliver £6bn of economies by next March.

Mr Speth, who is being replaced by former Renault boss Thierry Bollore in September, said JLR had “reacted with resilience and agility to the extraordinary challenges” over the quarter.

The company recently said it was shedding 1,100 positions, on top of 5,000 it said it would cut last year.