Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is due to meet Jaguar Land Rover executives and union leaders amid reports that Britain’s largest carmaker is preparing to cut up to 4,000 jobs.
The company is expected to formally announce a substantial redundancy programme on Monday, with the proposed job losses spread over a two-year period.
JLR said it informed employees on Friday that it was opening a voluntary redundancy programme for salaried and management staff, offering eligible workers the opportunity to leave the business.
The planned cuts come as the company continues to recover from a series of operational and financial setbacks, including a major cyberattack last year that forced production to halt at its UK factories.
JLR employs about 30,000 people in Britain and manufactures the majority of its vehicles domestically, with major sites including Solihull in the West Midlands and Halewood in Merseyside.
Reynolds told LBC that he would meet JLR’s chief executive and Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, early next week.
He said his immediate concern was “the human impact of it” and the workers who could be directly affected by the proposed redundancies.
Mr Reynolds said: “There is substantial pressure on the automotive sector, but the crucial thing for me is whenever a business of this size and importance might need to consider the scale of its workforce going forward is: how can we mitigate that? How can we work with the local area?”
“I would say specifically because the environment is so hard for automotive. It has been a priority for the government,” he said.
The prospect of significant job losses at JLR has renewed pressure on ministers to consider further intervention in support of Britain’s automotive industry, which is facing a combination of high energy costs, changing emissions regulations and intensifying international competition.
Asked whether the government would consider imposing additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to support domestic manufacturers, Reynolds said: “It’s something as Trade Secretary you consider very carefully.
However, he cautioned against protectionist measures that could damage Britain’s export markets.
He said: “But the crucial thing, not just for Jaguar Land Rover but for all of our automotive sector, is we are an export-led industry in the UK, whether that’s to Europe, whether that’s to China, whether that’s to the US, whether it’s taking advantage of the trade deal with India.
“So the principal objective is making sure we have access to other markets. If you put tariffs on foreign products coming into the UK, you obviously risk your position relative to that country.”
Graham said the proposed job losses were the latest consequence of a prolonged decline in the competitiveness of Britain’s automotive sector.
She said: “Death by a thousand cuts has been going on under the nose of successive governments.
“Years of under-investment, unsustainable ZEV mandates and high industrial energy costs are crippling the industry. There must be further action.
“There have been intensive Government discussions over the weekend to look at how to mitigate these jobs losses at JLR.”
The planned restructuring follows a difficult period for JLR, whose financial performance has been affected by production disruptions, weaker vehicle volumes and the costs associated with its transition towards electric vehicles.
The company reported last month that revenues fell 9.6 per cent year-on-year to £6bn in the three months to June 30, driven by a 9.2 per cent decline in vehicle volumes.
Production was disrupted by several factors, including a fire at a supplier’s factory.
In March, JLR temporarily suspended production of Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models at its Solihull plant after a major fire at a component manufacturer’s factory in Norway disrupted supplies.
Sales have also been affected by Jaguar’s decision to end production of several diesel and petrol models, including the F-Pace, as the marque prepares for a shift towards an all-electric range.
The transition forms part of a wider overhaul intended to restore Jaguar’s position in the luxury market, but has created a difficult period between the end of production of existing models and the launch of new electric vehicles.
JLR reported pre-tax profit before exceptional items of £109mn for the quarter, down from £351mn in the same period a year earlier.
Margins were affected by a one-off provision relating to US fuel economy regulations, which partially offset the benefit of lower tariffs on exports from the UK to the US.
Earlier this year, the company said it planned to cut approximately £1.7bn in costs over the coming years as part of efforts to support its recovery and improve profitability.
The group is also continuing to deal with the consequences of a cyberattack last year that had a significant effect on the company, its employees and the wider British economy.
JLR was forced to suspend production at its UK factories for five weeks from September 1, disrupting its supply chain and weighing heavily on vehicle sales during the final months of 2025.
The prolonged shutdown contributed to substantial financial losses and exposed the vulnerability of Britain’s automotive supply chain to operational disruption.
The proposed redundancies now raise fresh questions about the future of one of Britain’s largest manufacturers at a time when the industry is attempting to manage the transition to electric vehicles while competing against heavily subsidised producers overseas.
For ministers, the immediate challenge will be limiting the impact on affected workers and the communities surrounding JLR’s factories. More broadly, the company’s difficulties have intensified calls for a clearer industrial strategy capable of addressing the structural pressures facing the UK automotive sector.
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