Tariffs-hit Jaguar Land Rover to cut 500 jobs

LONDON: Indian-owned Jaguar Land Rover, which halted exports of its cars to the United States in April over tariffs, said Thursday it planned to cut up to 500 UK management jobs.

The cuts to be carried out via voluntary redundancy total 1.5 percent of the JLR workforce in the UK, a statement said.

"As part of normal business practice, we regularly offer eligible employees the opportunity to leave JLR through limited voluntary redundancy programmes," said a company spokesperson, without linking the move to developments over tariffs.

The news comes after the company, which is owned by Indian group Tata Motors, reported a sharp reduction in sales after JLR temporarily halted shipments to the US in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs.

JLR retail sales slid more than 15 percent in the three months to the end of June, compared with the same period last year.

Jaguar's sales were impacted also by a planned phase-out of its legacy vehicles in the UK, as the company prepared to launch electric models.

Automotive trade body SMMT last month reported that British car exports to the United States slumped more than 55 percent in May year-on-year -- but noted that a recent trade deal between the UK and US should help sales to recover.

The agreement between London and Washington slashes the tariff on UK car exports to 10 percent from 27.5 percent, on a limit of 100,000 vehicles annually.