Jaguar Land Rover ‘poised to cut 5000 jobs’

Jaguar Land Rover will announce that it will cut up to 5000 jobs early next year as part of a major cost-cutting programme, according to Autocar UK.

The job losses will be part of a £2.5 billion (Rs 22,601 crore) turnaround plan the British firm is set to outline in January. JLR has been hit by falling demand for saloon cars and diesel engines, and posted a loss of £90 million (Rs 813 crore) in the third quarter of 2018. The company said that sharply falling sales in China were the key reason for the loss.

While Jaguar Land Rover boss Ralf Speth announced the 18-month cost-cutting plan when those financial results were announced in October, no specifics were given on what they involved. 

But sources have told the Financial Times in the UK that it will include job losses that “run into the thousands”, with a financial analyst that covers JLR telling the paper that up to 5000 job losses are planned.

In a statement, the firm said: "Jaguar Land Rover notes media speculation about the potential impact of its ongoing Charge and Accelerate transformation programmes. As announced when we published our second quarter results, these programmes aim to deliver £2.5 billion 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."

JLR, which currently employs around 40,000 people in the UK, has already cut 1000 job at its Solihull plant – which it recently shut for two weeks – and is currently operating a three-day week at its Castle Bromwich facility, which makes its saloon car range.

The reports highlight the uncertainty facing JLR, and beyond the cost-cutting plan the company is also attempting to determine its long-term future. Autocar has previously reported this could include the radical step of turning Jaguar into an EV-only brand.