Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed it is opening a voluntary redundancy programme, with reports suggesting up to 4,000 jobs a year could be lost, as Britain's biggest carmaker seeks to save £1.7billion over the next two years. The move comes almost exactly a year after a cyber attack halted all manufacturing for several weeks, and follows a combination of soaring costs, falling sales and US tariffs that the company has described as a "perfect storm". The cuts are a setback for the government's industrial ambitions, coming shortly after Andy Burnham pledged to "reindustrialise" Britain.

JLR employs 34,000 people across three English sites and supports a further 120,000 jobs in its supply chain; the voluntary scheme is initially being offered to salaried and management staff. The 2024 cyber attack, which stopped production entirely and caused a 27 per cent output drop, is estimated to have cost the firm £1.9billion, while a new 10 per cent US tariff on UK car imports has also hit sales in North America, which accounts for 29 per cent of JLR's global market. Other manufacturers face similar pressures, with Volkswagen recently announcing 50,000 job cuts, and Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has called for urgent talks with ministers and JLR's boss, warning of years of under-investment and rising industrial costs across the sector.