Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed plans to reduce its workforce as Britain’s biggest carmaker confronts weaker sales, higher operating costs and pressure from US tariffs, with The Times reporting that as many as 4,000 jobs could disappear over the next two years.
North America is JLR’s largest market, leaving the British manufacturer particularly exposed to tariffs on UK-built vehicles despite London securing a reduced 10% rate. The company was also hit by a serious cyberattack last year that brought production to a standstill for several weeks.
Revenue dropped almost 10% in the quarter ending June, while pre-tax profit fell by more than two-thirds to £109 million. JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, says it “must adapt to evolving global market conditions” and is targeting approximately £1.7 billion in savings while reducing its annual break-even level to 300,000 vehicles.
A voluntary redundancy programme has now been opened for salaried and management employees, although JLR has not confirmed reports that up to 4,000 positions could ultimately go. The company directly employs roughly 34,000 people in the West Midlands and Merseyside and supports an estimated 120,000 additional jobs throughout Britain’s automotive supply chain.
The restructuring comes amid a wider contraction across Europe’s motor industry, where manufacturers including Volkswagen and Porsche are cutting tens of thousands of positions as weak demand, tariffs, elevated costs and increasingly competitive Chinese manufacturers squeeze established European brands.
