Jaguar Land Rover to shed up to 1.5% UK staff as Trump tariffs bite

Automaker company Jaguar Land Rover plans to shed 500 management jobs in the UK due to trump tariffs, a clear deviation from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s promise to protect jobs in Britain. According to JLR, only 1.5% of its UK workforce will be affected.

The car company’s spokesman argued that the layoffs are normal for Volvo cars because they offer limited voluntary redundancy programmes to eligible employees. The firm’s workforce encompasses roughly 35,000 employees, though it has recently suffered a decline in its sales.

JLR sees drop in sales due to Trump’s tariffs

500 jobs cut at Jaguar Land Rover as sales plunge 15.1% in Q2. The PM is a one-man wrecking ball to British industry 👉 https://t.co/xSy8WnTJp8

— Trevor Lloyd-Jones (@tlloydjones) July 17, 2025

The job cuts come as the carmaker has suffered a drop in sales due to the U.S.’s 25% tariffs on cars from foreign manufacturers. Having profited 1.6 billion in 2024 alone, the firm reported a 10% drop in Q1 sales as the U.S. temporarily halted shipments from its Indian parent, Tata Motors. Jaguar also reported a 15.1% drop in its Q2 sales as it continues facing challenges from Trump’s heightened levies.

After negotiations with Starmer, Trump’s tariffs declined to around 10% for Britain’s exports, despite the car company’s manufacturing being situated in Slovakia. During a speech at the firm’s factory in Solihull in May, Starmer mentioned that he had managed to save workers’ jobs. CEO of JLR, Adrian Mardell, argued that the deal would help sustain 250,000 UK jobs.

British Conservative Party politician Andrew Griffith also acknowledged that JLR’s lay-offs were an embarrassment to the Prime Minister. He also noted that the British government was not serious about businesses due to their union red tape, jobs tax, and net-zero obsessions. Griffith believes it’s the reason that unemployment is rising in the UK. 

The job redundancies came as Britain recorded a surge in unemployment to a four-year high, stemming from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ 25 billion euro National Insurance hike. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the country reported a 4.7% unemployment rate in Q1. ONS also reported a drop in employment numbers of 41,000 in June compared to the previous month, which was the lowest level since September 2023.

JLR had also previously halted production of its cars as it rebranded last year from its big cat logo design to a capital J. The firm revealed that it will resume selling its cars after its full relaunch, expected next year, to an all-electric overhaul.

Leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, argued that the rebrand was ”woke,”  but JLR maintained that the changes were necessary to restore the firm to profitability. The automaker highlighted that the layoffs will target certain areas in JLR and are also meant to account for falling Jaguar sales.

Volvo wants the EU to cut tariffs on U.S. cars

The CEO of Volvo Cars, Hakan Samuelsson, wants the EU to reduce its 10% levy on U.S. cars after recording a $1.2 billion loss. He believes that automakers from the bloc don’t need protection from American-made automakers. 

Belgium automakers have put effort into urging the U.S. to lower its over 27% tariff on imports of European cars. Samuelsson argued that Europe’s trade dynamics should allow it to be the first to go down to very low tariffs. During Biden’s administration, the EU had maintained a 10% levy on vehicles imported from the U.S., while the U.S. had a 2.5% duty on European-made cars.

“I think it’s absolutely unnecessary, the European car industry definitely does not need to have any protection from American auto builders.”

-Hakan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars Corporation.

The majority of the automaker’s cars sales in the U.S. are imported from Europe, making it among the most affected European carmakers by Trump’s tariffs. Volvo revealed on July 16 that it will commence production of its best-selling model, the hybrid XC60, in the U.S. late next year. 

The firm still produces the Polestar 3 and electric model EX90 in South Carolina, but acknowledged that there was less demand from U.S. consumers. The car company also wants to cut down its product offering in the U.S., with Samuelsson arguing that they have control over those measures.

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