Friday, June 26, 2009
Jobs warning at Jaguar Land Rover
More job cuts may be made at Jaguar Land Rover, after the carmaker reported a £280m 10-month loss, owner Tata Motors has warned.
Tata also said that further shutdowns were likely at Jaguar Land Rover's factories in Castle Bromwich, Coventry, Solihull and Halewood, Merseyside.
Jaguar Land Rover currently employs 14,500 people, having made 450 redundancies at the start of the year.
Sales of Jaguar and Land Rover cars fell 32% in the 10 months to 31 March.
The number of vehicles sold fell to 167,000 from 246,000 a year earlier, as worldwide demand fell sharply due to the recession.
Tata said that while Jaguar Land Rover sales slumped "considerably" last year, one highlight had been "a very strong consumer response" to the Jaguar XF model.
The £280m loss was for the same period to 31 March, which was Jaguar Land Rover's first 10 months under the ownership of India's Tata.
Tata's own losses
A spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover said the firm was continuing talks with the UK government about the possibility of some form of financial assistance.
Tata bought Jaguar Land Rover for £1.7bn in June 2008 from Ford.
The warning about possible further job cuts at Jaguar Land Rover came as Tata reported its own losses.
Tata made a net loss of $520m (£315m) in the year to 31 March, which includes the 10 month impact of Jaguar Land Rover.
It was the firm's first annual loss for eight years.
DATED: 26.06.09
FEED: AW
