Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced plans to cut up to 500 management jobs in the UK, citing a sharp decline in sales linked to US tariffs imposed by Donald Trump. The voluntary redundancy programme will affect approximately 1.5% of the company's 33,000 UK workforce.
The British luxury carmaker reported a 15.1% drop in sales in the three months to June, following a temporary pause in exports to the US. JLR stopped shipments in April after Trump imposed a 25% duty on foreign-made vehicles, resuming in May after a trade deal reduced tariffs to 10% for up to 100,000 UK cars annually.
JLR's chief executive, Adrian Mardell, said the trade deal would help sustain 250,000 jobs across the UK car industry. Britain's ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, claimed the agreement had immediately prevented job losses at JLR's West Midlands factory.
However, the company's sales in North America fell 12.2% in the second quarter, while UK sales dropped 25.5% due to the planned wind-down of older Jaguar models. JLR has also lowered its profit margin forecast for this year to between 5% and 7%, down from a previous estimate of 10%.
The job cuts have drawn political criticism. Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith called it a 'huge personal embarrassment' for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who visited JLR's Solihull factory in May. Downing Street expressed disappointment but pledged continued support for the car industry, including £2.5bn for electric vehicle transition.
