JLR Vows to Cut Costs by $3.2 Billion as Sales Slump
Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. says it will cut costs and investments by £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) within 18 months after reporting a loss in the third quarter.
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Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. says it will cut costs and investments by £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) within 18 months after reporting a loss in the third quarter.
The company intends to cancel £1 billion in investments, slash operating by £1 billion and lower inventories and working capital by £500 million. Analysts say job cuts appear inevitable.
JLR, which earned £382 million in the third quarter last year, slid into a £90 million ($115 million) loss in July-September. Unit sales dropped 13% to 130,000 cars and crossover vehicles. The company blames waning customer interest in diesels that caused demand to fall China (by nearly 50% drop), Europe (-12%) and the U.S. (-5%).
The company already has eliminated 1,000 jobs at its factory in Solihull, suspended production there for two weeks and reduced operations to three days per week at Castle Bromwich. Last week JLR officially launched production of Land Rover Discovery SUVS at a new €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) factory in Nitra, Slovakia.
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