Jaguar Land Rover to cut up to 5,000 jobs

(BBC) – Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will today announce it is cutting up to 5,000 jobs from its 40,000 strong UK workforce.

Management, marketing and administrative roles are expected to be hardest hit, but some production staff may also be affected.

The layoffs are part of a £2.5bn cost-cutting plan amid what industry insiders have called a “perfect storm”.

They mean a downturn in Chinese sales, a slump in diesel sales and concerns about UK competitiveness post-Brexit.

JLR is particularly exposed to the first two of these factors.

JLR has seen its employee numbers soar as its revenues have expanded.

China is the company’s biggest and hitherto most profitable market. But sales in China have fallen nearly 50% in recent months as cautious Chinese consumers have been holding back on big ticket purchases amid global trade tensions.

The relationship between JLR and its Chinese sales network have also been strained as dealers demand better terms and promotional incentives.

The issues at JLR have arisen as Ford is also looking to cut back on its workforce numbers in Europe.