Jaguar Land Rover may shed 1,800 jobs; presure mounts on UK government

19 January 2009

The current economic crisis has hit the automobiles industry hard and Jaguar Land Rover, the British luxury car maker owned by Tata Motors seems to be no exception with reports of substantial job losses on top of other measures if the government does not step in with a lifeline.

Analysts and MPs are increasingly urging the British government to extend the troubled company with a line of credit and live up to its pledge of September last year to help British car manufactureres remain competitive.

Since the announcement, however, the economy has entered a serious recession with UK car production figures falling by 23 per cent.

Last week, the Midlands-based Jaguar Land Rover announced plans for further job cuts  following the 850 jobs lost before Christmas.

According to unions the losses could be the tip of the proverbial iceberg especially in view of the chief executive's warning that the improvement in the situation could take some time coming.

With other car manufacturers such as BMW, Nissan, Honda and Aston Martin  having already laid off staff the UK car industry may be in serious trouble. Analysts point out that there may be serious implications to the continuing job losses in the car industry in UK beyong the personal tragedies of individual who are laid off.