Jaguar Land Rover to cut 4,000 jobs

Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's largest car maker, has announced plans to cut around 4,000 jobs, about one in ten of its workforce.

The company confirmed the plans on 7 September. The job losses are expected to be phased over two years.

Office jobs to go

The cuts are expected to fall mainly on salaried staff, including managers and people working in marketing and research and development, rather than on production line workers. The company is opening a voluntary redundancy programme.

JLR employs around 40,000 people worldwide, of whom around 30,000 are in the UK.

Why the cuts?

The company says it faces fierce competition from Chinese car makers, the costly switch to electric vehicles and the effects of American tariffs on its exports. The cuts are part of a plan to save around £1.7 billion and make the business more competitive.

JLR's chief executive, PB Balaji, confirmed the plans.

A big employer in the Midlands

JLR is one of the biggest employers in the region. It has a major factory at Lode Lane in Solihull, where Range Rover and other models are built, and a large site at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham, where Jaguar cars were made until 2024. Its engineering centre is at Gaydon in Warwickshire, and it builds engines at Wolverhampton.

Thousands more jobs depend on JLR at suppliers across the region.

A difficult period

The company has faced a difficult few years. It stopped making Jaguar cars in 2024 as it prepares to relaunch the brand as an electric-only luxury maker, and was hit last year by a cyber attack that halted production for weeks.

JLR is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors. In May, it signed an agreement with Stellantis to explore working together in the United States.

Reaction

The company says it is offering voluntary redundancy first. The cuts will be felt across the Midlands, where many families have worked for JLR and its predecessors for generations.

The wider industry

The British car industry is under pressure from high energy costs, American tariffs and the move to electric vehicles. Several other car makers have announced cuts in recent years.

The government says it is committed to supporting the industry, which employs hundreds of thousands of people across the country.