London (AFP) – Jaguar Land Rover said Monday that it would cut “around 4,000 roles over the next two years,” or about ten percent of its global workforce, in a further blow to Europe’s automobile industry. The company revealed its voluntary redundancy scheme just days after the German car giant Volkswagen announced 50,000 new job cuts.
It follows months of turmoil caused by a cyberattack on the British luxury carmaker and US President Donald Trump’s sector-wide tariffs. The world’s biggest carmakers across Europe, the United States, and Japan are also facing strong competition from Chinese manufacturers, as well as the need to invest heavily as the industry shifts toward electric vehicles.
“The automotive industry faces significant challenges, with technological change amidst intense competition and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty,” JLR’s chief executive PB Balaji said in the statement, which also said it would target cost savings of £1.7 billion ($2.3 billion). “Over the next 12 months, we will launch five new products, continue to leverage the strength of our brands, and renew our focus on North America, amongst other markets, to help us deliver double digit revenue growth,” Balaji added.
The vast majority of JLR employees — around 34,000 people — are based in the UK. In an earlier statement Monday, JLR identified management roles as those at risk, while local media reports said most of the cuts would be in the UK.
UK Business minister Jonathan Reynolds is scheduled to meet with JLR executives this week to discuss the job losses. “We recognise this will be difficult news for colleagues affected, and are committed to supporting everyone with care, fairness and respect,” Balaji said. “Together, these actions will help build a stronger, more competitive JLR for all our stakeholders.”
The restructuring comes a year after a major cyberattack halted JLR’s production in Britain and severely affected its finances. Owned by India’s Tata Motors, JLR was forced to halt production for more than a month, costing the company £260 million, according to its latest estimate.
Hit also by US tariffs, the carmaker posted a loss of £244 million for its fiscal year ending in March, compared with a net profit of £1.8 billion in 2024-25. “We must further simplify our organisation, improve efficiency, and build greater resilience,” JLR said Monday.
Seeking to move on from the cyberattack, the company last week opened orders for its new fully electric Range Rover. Last week, Volkswagen said its management and unions had agreed to axe a total of 100,000 jobs by the end of the decade, the biggest-ever restructuring in the global auto industry. The company said it had approved a plan involving the reduction of around 50,000 jobs, on top of 50,000 already agreed earlier this year.
© 2024 AFP
