ICCK

Bangkok/London: Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will announce plans early next year to cut thousands of jobs as part of a turnaround strategy, the Financial Times reported, citing several unidentified people close to the company.

The UK luxury carmaker, owned by India’s Tata Motors Ltd, will outline the measures in January as part of a three-year cost-cutting program, the report said. In October, it outlined plans to deliver cost and cash flow improvements of 2.5 billion pounds ($3.15 billion) within 18 months.

“Jaguar Land Rover does not comment on rumours concerning any part of these plans,” a spokesman for the company said by email on Sunday.

S&P Global Ratings cut Tata Motors’ long-term rating deeper into junk on Tuesday, the second downgrade in five months, citing headwinds for JLR in some key markets, including China. JLR’s euro-denominated bonds due in 2026 have fallen to about 84 cents on the euro since they were sold at par in September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

JLR is also bracing for the possibility of the UK exiting the European Union next year without a deal, threatening to disrupt auto-industry supply chains. Chief Executive Officer Ralf Speth warned Prime Minister Theresa Mayin September that a bad Brexit deal could put tens of thousands of jobs at risk and cost the company more than 1.2 billion pounds a year.

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