Jaguar Land Rover to layoff thousands of jobs in $2.3 billion cost-saving overhaul

Thousands of workers at Britain’s Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will be offered voluntary redundancies as the luxury car manufacturer responds to intense competition from cheaper Chinese rivals, a cyberattack and U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariffs.

The company, which is owned by India’s automotive manufacturer Tata Motors, is planning to cut as many as 4,000 jobs over the next two years, according to a report from The Times.

A JLR spokesperson did not comment on the scale of the job losses when contacted by CNBC on Monday.

The spokesperson did, however, confirm the company had informed its colleagues and trade union partners that it is “opening a voluntary redundancy programme offering salaried and management team members the opportunity to leave the business.”

JLR said the company needed to adapt to evolving global market conditions while targeting roughly £1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) in savings over the next two years, while reducing its break-even point to 300,000 vehicles.

“To achieve this, we must further simplify our organisation, improve efficiency, and build greater resilience,” the spokesperson said.

Shares of Tata Motors traded 0.7% lower on Monday. The Mumbai-listed stock is up around 9.5% year-to-date.

JLR’s cost-cutting drive is seen as a fresh test for Prime Minister Andy Burnham, following similar cost-saving announcements at British luxury car firms Aston Martin and Bentley in recent months.

U.K. Business and Trade Minister Jonathan Reynolds, who ruled out a bailout for the company over the weekend, is expected to meet with JLR executives to discuss the redundancy measures early this week.

“We understand that this will be an uncertain and concerning time for affected workers, their families and wider communities,” a government spokesperson told CNBC by email.

“We have taken significant action to back the UK automotive industry by lowering electricity bills for manufacturers, providing £4 billion of capital and R&D funding to manufacture zero emission vehicles and launching a £2 billion Electric Car Grant to encourage people to buy EVs,” they added.

It’s not just British car firms feeling the pressure. German auto giant Volkswagen announced late last week that it plans to slash a further 50,000 jobs as part of a historic transformation plan, amid tariff pressures and fierce competition from Chinese car brands.