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Jaguar Land Rover to cut output and jobs due to Brexit, diesel slump

LONDON — Britain's biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover will cut around 1,000 jobs and production at two of its English factories due to a fall in sales caused by uncertainty around Brexit and confusion over diesel policy, a source told Reuters. Output will be cut at its central English Solihull and Castle Bromwich plants, affecting some 1,000 agency workers, the source said. A spokesman at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) declined to comment on the number of jobs which would be lost but the firm said it would be making changes to its output plans. "In light of the continuing headwinds impacting the car industry, we are making some adjustments to our production schedules and the level of agency staff," the company said in a statement. It is not renewing the contracts of a number of agency staff at the Solihull site and would be informing staff on Monday of its plans for the 2018-19 financial year. In January, the firm said it would temporarily reduce production at its other British plant of Halewood later this year in response to weakening demand due to Brexit and tax hikes on diesel cars but did not detail any job losses. Jaguar sales are down 26 percent so far this year whilst Land Rover demand dropped 20 percent in its home market as buyers shun diesel, concerned over planned tax rises and possible bans and restrictions in several countries. "It's been obvious to everyone that sales have been dropping," the source said. British new car registrations have been falling for a year which the car industry body has partly blamed on weakening consumer confidence in the wake of the Brexit vote, after record demand in 2015 and 2016. Reporting by Costas Pitas. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: REUTERS/Phil Noble Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing Jaguar Land Rover Diesel Vehicles Luxury sales jaguar land rover jobs brexit

Land Rover Defender V8, next Range Rover, new BMW M3 share the Nurburgring

From open-track days to 24-hour races, so many events are held on Germany's Nurburgring track that carmakers need to share the tarmac with their rivals to put new models through their paces. Industry pool days are normally closed to the public, but a seven-minute video reveals what Land Rover, BMW, and several others are testing. Posted on YouTube by StatesideSupercars, the video shows prototypes racing around the track in the mid-summer heat. Land Rover's engineers are busy putting the final touches on the V8-powered variant of the new Defender, which our spies have previously spotted testing in its home country of England, and they're developing what looks like the high-performance, SVR-badged version of the next-generation Range Rover due out in 2020. As we reported earlier in 2020, the hot-rodded Defender packs a 5.0-liter V8 between its fenders, though its horsepower and torque outputs remain under wraps. Unverified rumors claim it will arrive as a limited-edition model to avoid sending Land Rover's fleet-wide CO2 emissions through the roof. And, the video confirms chassis engineers have made extensive modifications to the SUV's suspension, partly to keep body roll in check. Walking down the pits, members of BMW's testing team are getting up early to put track miles on an enigmatic variant of the face-lifted M5, and on the next-generation M3. We've already seen the M5 in the metal, so why is it still camouflaged? One possible answer is that we're looking at the rumored CS version, which should receive a 641-horsepower V8 thanks to software tweaks and a better cooling system. The simpler (and more boring) possibility is that BMW isn't quite done testing the M5, and it doesn't want to waste time removing the black and white wrap. Your author regularly spotted i8 prototypes in full camouflage regalia months after its debut. As for the M3, much has already been said about its mammoth grille, which seemingly mirrors the one worn by the new 4 Series. Autoblog drove a pre-production prototype in June and walked away impressed. It receives an evolution of the X3 M's 3.0-liter straight-six turbocharged to 473 horsepower, though selecting the optional Competition package will increase that figure to 503. And, fear not: The six-speed stick is coming back. Land Rover and BMW aren't the only companies playing on the 'Ring.

Frankfurt Motor Show Notes: Why Jaguar decided to build an SUV

It was inevitable. Jaguar had to make an SUV, and that notion became reality this week with the debut of the F-Pace, an all-wheel-drive five-seater that will launch in the United States next spring. Some purists may cringe. But in an era when Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, and other traditional luxury brands are all building or (planning to build) SUVs, Jaguar had to evolve. While it seems like a leap for Jaguar to make an SUV, longtime design director Ian Callum said it's been in the works for years. "The first time I was asked the question was when I arrived 16 years ago," he said. So in 1999 (and probably well before that), Jaguar was already thinking SUV. What took so long? "It wasn't a priority," Callum said. Jaguar was concentrating on fixing its existing lineup, which was pockmarked with holes and poorly selling products, like the X-Type. Along the way, Jaguar and sister brand Land Rover were sold by Ford to Indian conglomerate Tata Motors. Flash forward several years, and Jaguar and Land Rover are both experiencing a resurgence in the United States and around the world. Jaguar's lineup is flush with the E-Type's modern successor, the F-Type, plus a new version of the XF. The XJ received a 2016 freshening, and the smaller XE sedan is on the way. Jaguar put its house in order as other factors conspired to make a crossover timely. Fuel prices stayed relatively low, and consumers in the US and China remained steadfast in their love for utility vehicles of all stripes. Making a Jaguar SUV became a priority. "The world was telling us in no uncertain terms this is what they wanted," Callum said. "Not to be in the sector would be a little naive for the sake of purity." Jaguar proved its intent two years ago when it revealed the C-X17 crossover concept at Frankfurt, and the final production model is close to the prototype's striking looks. "I thought we managed to maintain that spirit," Callum said. It's a true Jaguar, with cues from the F-Type, 1968 XJ, and other famous models. Who would have thought Jaguar would make an SUV? "I certainly didn't," Callum admitted. But the F-Pace is here. If Callum is okay with it, purists can be, too. Quick Hits Opel retrenches for 2016 and beyond Opel used the Frankfurt show to display its new generation of the Astra, a critical vehicle line for the German division of General Motors.