The number that matters in Monday’s Jaguar Land Rover announcement is not 4,000. It is 300,000.
That is the annual sales volume at which the company now intends to break even. Its brands have historically sold well over 400,000 vehicles a year. Just Auto made that comparison in its report on the statement. JLR is not trimming to ride out a bad year. It is rebuilding itself as a smaller company on purpose.
The job cuts are how it pays for that. JLR said it will cut around 4,000 roles over the next two years. That is roughly 10% of its global workforce. It is targeting £1.7bn of savings over the same period, about $2.3bn. CNBC reported the workforce percentage. The plan has a name, Growth Reimagined, and Just Auto reported it will start with a voluntary redundancy programme.
Where the savings are going
Chief executive PB Balaji set out the arithmetic in a statement. The savings will support £15bn to £18bn of investment over five years. That money goes into electrification, digital technologies, advanced manufacturing and customer experience. Five new products arrive in the next 12 months. The company will renew its focus on North America and is targeting double-digit revenue growth.
