Managers invited to take voluntary redundancy after Midland car giant paused US exports
Gv of JLR / Jaguar Land Rover / signage outside the factory on Lode lane, Solihull.(Image: Birmingham Live)
Midland car giant Jaguar Land Rover is axing up to 500 management jobs in the UK.
The announcement was made today, Thursday, July 17, amid pressure on sales due to trade tariff woes.
The Tata-owned firm said around 1.5 per cent of its UK workforce would be affected by the job cuts, which are part of a voluntary redundancy programme for managers in the UK.
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A spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover said: “As part of normal business practice, we regularly offer eligible employees the opportunity to leave JLR through limited voluntary redundancy programmes.”
The company revealed last week that retail sales plunged 15.1 per cent in the three months to June after a temporary pause in exports to the US and the planned wind-down of older Jaguar models.
The company said the significant fall in sales was partly driven by the pause in shipments to the US in April after US President Donald Trump’s administration introduced new tariff plans.
It restarted exports in early May amid hopes a trade deal for the sector would be struck.
The car firm said earlier this month that wholesale sales in North America dropped by 12.2 per cent year-on-year after the pause.
Wholesale sales in the UK plunged by 25.5 per cent after the market was particularly hit by the “planned cessation of the legacy Jaguar models”.
Jaguar stopped selling new cars in the UK late last year as it shifts its production to new electric models, which are set to go on sale in 2026. JLR reported that Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender models represented 77.2 per cent of all wholesale volumes, compared with 67.8 per cent a year earlier.