Jaguar Land Rover’s turnaround plans to put ‘5,000 jobs at risk’

Jaguar Land Rover is preparing to implement turnaround plans that could result in up to 5,000 job cuts next year as it prepares to make radical changes to its UK operations.

One in eight jobs are under threat at the car giant, which had until recently been seen as the jewel in Midlands manufacturing.

However it has been struggling to maintain sales volumes this year, with monthly sales in its key China market dropping by as much as half, while longer-term trends are also unfavourable.

The shift away from diesel and the impact of Brexit on its UK manufacturing sites are among the major challenges for the automotive group.

It has already announced more than 1,000 agency jobs were being cut as it works to save £2.5bn as part of its turnaround plans.

The Financial Times, which revealed the scale of the potential job cuts, has reported the Boston Consulting Group has been working on the turnaround plans. Those plans are split into a three-year Project Change and a Project Accelerate.

Jaguar Land Rover declined to comment on “media speculation”

In November alone JLR sold 5,000 fewer Land Rovers than a year earlier, and it has now sold 25,000 fewer Land Rovers in the first 11 months of the year than it did a year earlier.

Sales of Jaguar cars have been much more resilient, with sales up 0.7% for the calendar year. However out of every 10 vehicles the Warwickshire group sells, seven are Land Rovers, which means the sales slump for that marque is having a significant impact on its performance.

In particular sales in China have been in freefall since the summer.

Jaguar Land Rover’s sales to China in 2018, compared with a year earlier:

In its last financial year, to March 2018, the company made pre-tax profits of £1.5bn on revenues of £25.8bn. It sold a company record 614,309 vehicles in the year.

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