Ford wasn't the only automaker to announce cuts this week. On Thursday, Jaguar Land Rover announced they would cutting 10 percent of their global workforce (4,500 jobs) as part of a 2.5 billion pound (about $3.2 billion) effort to reduce costs and improve cash flow through 2020.

As we reported last month, JLR got hit with a triple whammy of bad news; declining sales in China, falling demand for diesel vehicles, and the looming threat of Brexit. 

The company reported that retail sales fell 4.6 percent in 2018, mostly due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. That pales in comparison to the 22 percent drop in sales seen in the Chinese market - due mostly in part to the trade war. 

JLR CEO Dr. Ralph Speth said the cuts were a response to “multiple geopolitical and regulatory disruptions as well as technology challenges facing the automotive industry.”

The company said the cuts will focus on those in design, engineering, supervisory, and senior management. No cuts are expected to hit those in production.

Source: Bloomberg, Jaguar Land Rover

JAGUAR LAND ROVER IMPLEMENTS NEXT PHASE OF TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMME

Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturer, today outlined the next phase of ‘Charge and Accelerate’, the company’s ongoing transformation programme to deliver £2.5bn in cost reductions and cashflow improvements over 18 months as well as long-term strategic operating efficiencies.

• Next phase of major transformation plan to lay foundations for long-term sustainable profitable growth
• Creation of leaner, more resilient organisation; reducing global workforce by around 4,500 people. This is in addition to 1,500 people who left the business in 2018
• Further investment into electrification with Electric Drive Units to be produced at Wolverhampton Engine Manufacturing Centre and new Battery Assembly Centre to be established at Hams Hall, North Warwickshire
• CEO Prof. Dr. Ralf Speth: “Decisive action will help deliver resilient long-term growth as Jaguar Land Rover implements cost and profit improvements. This will safeguard our future and enable vital ongoing investment into Autonomous, Connected, Electric

Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturer, today outlined the next phase of ‘Charge and Accelerate’, the company’s ongoing transformation programme to deliver £2.5bn in cost reductions and cashflow improvements over 18 months as well as long-term strategic operating efficiencies.

Jaguar Land Rover is expanding a business-wide organisation review aimed at reducing the size of its global workforce by around 4,500 people. This is in addition to the 1,500 who left the company during 2018. The next phase of this transformation programme will begin with a voluntary redundancy programme in the UK. This strategic review will create a leaner, more resilient organisation with a flatter management structure.

We are taking decisive action to help deliver long-term growth, in the face of multiple geopolitical and regulatory disruptions as well as technology challenges facing the automotive industry. The ‘Charge and Accelerate’ programme combines efficiency measures with targeted investment, safeguarding our future and ensuring that we maximise the opportunities created by growing demand for Autonomous, Connected, Electric and Shared technologies.
PROF. DR. RALF SPETH
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF JAGUAR LAND ROVER

So far, the ‘Charge and Accelerate’ programme has identified over £1bn of improvements, with more than £500mn already realised in 2018. The savings and improvements achieved will enable Jaguar Land Rover to fund vital investments into technology to safeguard its future.

These investments include today’s announcement that, from later this year, next-generation Electric Drive Units (EDU) will be produced at the company’s Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton. These EDUs will be powered by batteries assembled at a new Jaguar Land Rover Battery Assembly Centre located at Hams Hall, North Warwickshire, reinforcing the company’s commitment to the West Midlands and the UK.

The Battery Assembly Centre will be one of the largest of its kind in the UK, using new production techniques and technologies to manufacture battery packs for future Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

The latest investments and the transformation measures aim to build on unprecedented growth achieved by Jaguar Land Rover over the past decade, enabling the company to launch today’s range of award-winning Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. In the last year alone, the company’s global product portfolio has expanded to include the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE, the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport with PHEV derivatives and, most recently, the new Range Rover Evoque, also with next-generation hybrid technology.

In 2018, the company continued its global expansion with the opening of its latest vehicle manufacturing plant in Slovakia as well as investment into specialist engineering hubs in the Republic of Ireland, Hungary and Manchester, UK. In the same year, Jaguar Land Rover also confirmed plans to invest in its Solihull plant to support the introduction of the next generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

The next chapter in the story of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands will be the most exciting - and challenging - in our history. Revealing the iconic Defender, investing in cleaner, smarter, more desirable cars and electrifying our facilities to manufacture a future range of British-built electric vehicles will all form part of building a globally competitive and flourishing company.
PROF. DR. RALF SPETH
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF JAGUAR LAND ROVER