January 2009 Car News - GBCarLoans.com

14th January 2009

Jaguar Land Rover cuts 450 staff

Jaguar Land Rover have announced it is cutting 450 jobs, The firm Land Rover at Halewood assembly plant blamed "a severe reduction in demand" for the cuts. 150 salaried agency staff and three hundred managers will be made redundant. The firm was bought by Tata from Ford for £1.7bn only last year. Jaguars are made at Halewood and Castle Bromwich while Land Rovers are produced at Halewood and Solihull.

A spokesman for Gordon Brown said that the government was dissapointed at the job losses, whilst understanding that it was a reflection of the downturn in the market.
Help will made available to those facing redundancy in the form of support from the JobCentre rapid response teams. They will try to help people find work elsewhere as quickly as possible.The company said managers would not receive any bonuses in 2009 and management pay increases had been deferred until 1 October "at the earliest". Consultations on proposed redundancies with unions has already begun.
Jaguar Land Rover chief executive David Smith said he did not expect sales to return to normal levels "for some time". He believes new technology and investment in new economically friendly vehicles would bring Land Rover back to life, making the firm more efficient was crucial to survive the credit crunch.

Land Rover sales were down by 30% throughout 2008 whilst Jaguar's sales rose by almost 9% over the same period, the company put this down to its new XF model launched last year.

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