JLR confirms job losses, delays Range Rover EV

Amid a drop in global sales of around 11 per cent, JLR has confirmed a round of voluntary redundancies for the business. It’s expected that no more than 500 roles will be lost, or 1.5 per cent of the UK workforce according to the manufacturer. They’re all in a management capacity, rather than production-based.

“JLR regularly offers eligible employees voluntary redundancy programmes. Through this limited UK VR programme for managers, JLR is aligning its leadership workforce for the business’s current and future needs,” it said in a statement. 

The current turmoil of US politics is partly to blame, you’ll not be surprised to learn. While the end of production for combustion-engined Jaguars will also have contributed to a downturn, it feels less important than what’s being levied on sales across the Atlantic. Trump may have relaxed his tariff policy for the UK, but it remains an additional tax on an expensive luxury good.

Given the capricious nature of this current US administration, it’s understandable that some may be putting off a purchase in the hope of the strategy being changed again. With the US being JLR’s biggest market, the ripple effects of any upheaval are inevitable. Whether or not that also accounts for a widely reported decision to delay the forthcoming Range Rover Electric is open to interpretation. Land Rover has apparently confirmed to customers on its wait list that the car will not launch now till next year. Suggestions that this might be due to a lack of demand hardly ring true when there were said to be 64,000 names on that list, although clearly the model still required more development work when we drove a prototype earlier this month. 

At any rate, the manufacturer hasn’t been confirmed yet at which facilities the redundancies will take effect, or exactly when they will be implemented. The official statement concluded: “We are grateful to the Government for delivering at speed the new UK-US trade deal, which gives us the confidence to invest £3.5bn per annum to realise our strategy which is delivering.”

Speaking of strategy, there is also additional speculation that JLR’s current predicament may have affected the timeline for Jaguar’s high-profile relaunch – although given the firm’s reticence in setting a specific date for the launch of the Type 00, there is no way to know for sure if that is accurate or not. A company spokesperson reiterated: “By 2030 JLR will sell electric versions of all its luxury brands. Our plans and vehicle architectures are flexible so we can adapt to different market and client demands.”