Jaguar to Cut 1,150 Jobs at Headquarters

LONDON September 17, 2004; Associated Press Writer Michael McDonough reported that luxury carmaker Jaguar said Friday it was stopping assembly work at its headquarters and cutting 1,150 jobs as a result of overproduction and poor sales in the key U.S. market.

The company said it was shedding 825 production jobs from its Browns Lane plant in Coventry, central England, which employs about 2,000 people. Some 425 of those jobs were being moved to another production facility, while 400 were being cut. The company also said it was cutting 750 office jobs across the group.

Jaguar announced the decision after executives from parent company Ford met with union officials.

"We have too much capacity and that is our underlying structural problem," Jaguar chief executive Joe Greenwell said. "Our bottom line has further deteriorated this year with the weakness of the dollar."

Jaguar sold 57,000 cars in the United States last year, about half of its output, but U.S. sales were down 3 percent in the first six months of this year, the company said.

Mark Fields, Ford vice president and the company's most senior executive in Europe, said the decision was needed to get Jaguar back on track and ensure its future.

"Jaguar simply cannot support three assembly plants with annual sales of 125,000 cars," he said.

British Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the decision was "disappointing."

"However, given the company's financial performance, tough decisions had to be taken," she said.

Union leaders condemned the moves. The Transport and General Workers Union and the Amicus union said they feared further closures.

"We are not prepared for British workers to be treated as cannon fodder to satisfy American shareholders," said Tony Woodley, general secretary of the TGWU.

"We will be consulting our members and giving them leadership to fight for their plants and jobs. It is also likely that we will be consulting with our members across Ford in the U.K."

Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said: "Ford's decision may kill off Jaguar. Our members will fight like tigers to keep the lion's share of quality car manufacturing in Britain."

Jaguar said it was shedding 400 production jobs at Browns Lane by not replacing staff who leave or retire, or by offering early retirement. It will also move 425 production jobs from the site to its assembly plant in Birmingham.

Final assembly will cease at Browns Lane in September 2005, but 310 staff will continue working there on wood veneer manufacturing. Jaguar spokesman Don Hume said he didn't know how many employees in total would remain at Browns Lane after the overhaul.

Some 5,600 people already work at Jaguar's assembly plants in Birmingham and Liverpool. The company plans to reduce production by 15,000 units this year.

Ford said it would create 300 new jobs at its Aston Martin plant in Gaydon, central England.

Jaguar also announced it was withdrawing from Formula One racing at the end of the year and that Ford was putting its Formula One business up for sale.

"Jaguar's presence in Formula One has been a valuable marketing and brand awareness platform," Greenwell said. "However it was our collective view that it is time for Jaguar cars to focus 100 percent on our core business."

The carmaker said its headquarters would remain at Browns Lane but that most of the site would be sold for redevelopment.