Jaguar Land Rover reported a £451m quarterly loss in the three months to September after recording £530m in restructuring costs tied to 4,000 job cuts. Revenues rose to £5.9bn, but the company scraped into operational profit only when ignoring the layoff expenses. JLR said 3,000 of the job cuts have been confirmed via voluntary redundancy, with most departures scheduled for end of November.
The loss came as sales fell in China and the Middle East. PB Balaji, JLR's chief executive, called on the UK and EU to abandon planned post-Brexit trade barriers and work together to compete against Chinese electric carmakers. The automotive industry is lobbying both governments to delay "rules of origin" tariffs scheduled for January 1, which would impose 10% charges on UK-EU electric cars using Asian batteries. The EU is also considering rules that would exclude UK-made cars from subsidies.
"Now is the time for actually fostering this entire electrical ecosystem," Balaji said. "We all hold hands, stick together and ensure that we get the system to evolve into the world of electrics."
JLR, owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, has written off billions in failed China investments since 2019 as Chinese competitors flooded the market. The company is now targeting US growth through a manufacturing deal with Stellantis and producing electric vehicles including the Range Rover and luxury Jaguar Type 01.