Indian automobile company and owner of Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors is reportedly planning to cut 1,100 temporary jobs as it moves ahead with cost-cutting measures as the coronavirus pandemic hits at the company’s revenues.
Tata Motor’s Chief Financial Officer PB Balaji recently said that Tata Motors expects to save 5 billion pounds in costs by March 2021 at its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit, adding 3.5 billion pounds of the savings had already been achieved.
The company will also reduce capital expenditure at JLR to 2.5 billion pounds for the current fiscal year, from the more than 3 billion pounds it has spent annually in previous years.
“Conserving cash and prioritising capital expenditure, and targeting investment spending to the right areas is our focus,” Balaji told the media.
In a separate statement by JLR, a company spokeswoman said, “We anticipate that up to 1,100 agency employees will be affected.”
The recent move by Tata Motors is part of its reviewing process of all its businesses. The company is also considering exiting those that do not add strategic value, as part of a broader effort to save 60 billion rupees ($789 million) in its domestic business in the fiscal year to 2021.
The automaker on Monday posted a consolidated fourth quarter net loss of 98.94 billion rupees, as coronavirus lockdowns across its markets ravaged sales, including at JLR.
JLR, which contributes the bulk of Tata Motors’ revenues, reported a pre-tax loss of 501 million pounds for the period after it took a hit of 800 million pounds because of the novel coronavirus, Balaji said.
He said there were signs sales were recovering in China, one of JLR’s biggest markets, as well as in the United States and in Europe, with strong orders for Land Rover’s sport-utility vehicle Defender and Range Rover’s Evoque.
Meanwhile, it is also being reported that JLR’s boss Ralf Speth, who has led the company since 2010, will step down from his role at the end of his contract term in September.
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