Jaguar Land Rover set to axe jobs in £1.7 billion plan

Jaguar Land Rover is expected to announce thousands of job cuts to help save £1.7 billion.

It is understood the firm will tell workers today (Monday, September 7) amid reports it is set to formally announce plans to slash 4000 jobs.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has already ruled out any Government bailout for the car maker.

The losses would come after the manufacturer – which makes most of its cars at bases including Solihull, in the West Midlands, and Halewood, Merseyside – revealed plans at the end of July to axe up to 300 jobs.

Jaguar Land Rover confirmed in a statement over the weekend that it is opening a voluntary redundancy programme offering salaried and management team members the opportunity to leave the business.

It is understood roles affected will be non-production, with the majority of cuts affecting its UK operations where around 34,000 staff are based. Just under 10,000 are employed by the company overseas.

The move comes as European manufacturers continue to struggled against competition from cheaper Chinese electric vehicle makers.

A Jaguar Land Rover spokesperson said: “Over the past three years, we have strengthened our house of brands and transformed our product portfolio for the next generation.

“As we deliver the next phase of our strategy, we need to adapt to evolving global market conditions while targeting approximately £1.7 billion of savings over the next two years and reduce break-evens to 300,000 vehicles.

“To achieve this, we must further simplify our organisation, improve efficiency and build greater resilience.”

The company confirmed it had informed staff and trade union partners of the plans for a voluntary redundancy programme, adding it would “share further information with our colleagues first”.

A Government spokesperson said: “We understand this will be an uncertain and concerning time for affected workers, their families and wider communities.

“We have taken significant action to back the UK automotive industry by lowering electricity bills for manufacturers, providing £4 billion of capital and research and development funding to manufacture zero-emission vehicles and launching a £2 billion electric car grant to encourage people to buy electric vehicles.”

Jaguar Land Rover revealed last month that revenues fell by 9.6 per cent year-on-year to £6 billion for the three months to June 30, driven by a 9.2 per cent decline in car volumes.

It came after production was heavily disrupted by a raft of factors, including a fire at a supplier’s factory.

The firm has also been recovering from a cyberattack last year, which forced it to stop production at its UK factories for five weeks.

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