Tata group-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed on Thursday (10) that it is axing 4,500 jobs or 10 per cent of its workforce mostly in its home market as it has witnessed weak Chinese demand and slump in European diesel sales.
Central England-based JLR, will axe some 4,500 out of 42,500 jobs, targeting managerial roles rather than production-line staff members in an attempt to return to profitability.
The company’s ongoing transformation programme aims to deliver £2.5 billion in cost reductions and cash flow improvements over 18 months as well as long-term strategic operating efficiencies.
The reduction of its global workforce by 4,500 is in addition to the 1,500 who left the company during 2018.
“The next phase of this transformation programme will begin with a voluntary redundancy programme in the UK. This strategic review will create a leaner, more resilient organisation with a flatter management structure,” JLR said in a statement.
“We are taking decisive action to help deliver long-term growth, in the face of multiple geopolitical and regulatory disruptions as well as technology challenges facing the automotive industry. The ‘Charge and Accelerate’ programme combines efficiency measures with targeted investment, safeguarding our future and ensuring that we maximise the opportunities created by growing demand for Autonomous, Connected, Electric and Shared technologies,” said JLR chief executive officer, Prof Dr Ralf Speth.
So far, the ‘Charge and Accelerate’ programme has identified over one billion pounds of improvements, with more than £500m already realised in 2018. The savings and improvements achieved will enable JLR to fund vital investments into technology to safeguard its future.
These investments include today’s announcement that, from later this year, next-generation Electric Drive Units (EDU) will be produced at the company’s Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton. These EDUs will be powered by batteries assembled at a new Jaguar Land Rover Battery Assembly Centre located at Hams Hall, North Warwickshire, reinforcing the company’s commitment to the West Midlands and the UK.
The battery assembly centre will be one of the largest of its kind in the UK, using new production techniques and technologies to manufacturing battery packs for future Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.
