Tata Motors share price falls over 4% amid Jaguar Land Rover job cut reports

Auto major Tata Motors share price declined over 4% today in the wake of reports that the company owned car-maker in UK, Jaguar Land Rover may cut nearly 1,000 jobs. JLR has scaled back production at some of its UK sites amid what it termed as "headwinds" impacting the automotive industry. Tata Motors share price opened at Rs 350.80 today, but extended losses to slip as much as 4.57 per cent to Rs 340.35 on the BSE. It was top loser on Sensex and Nifty. 
 
At 12:07 pm, the Tata Motors stock was trading at Rs 341.15, down 4.3 per cent from the previous trade. Although Jaguar Land Rover is yet to confirm the exact number of jobs to be lost, reports indicate that around 1,000 temporary workers are likely to be hit. The luxury carmaker reportedly said that the "review" of its production schedules is being undertaken to ensure market demand is balanced globally and that it will lay out its 2018-19 production plans to the workforce on Monday.

"In light of the continuing headwinds impacting the car industry, we are making some adjustments to our production schedules and the level of agency staff," a Jaguar Land Rover statement had said.
The job cuts are reportedly expected mainly at Solihull in the West Midlands region of England, as contracts of most of the agency staff not renewed. JLR employs around 40,000 people across six sites in the UK. Britain's largest car manufacturer had rarlier this year, announced plans to cut production at its Halewood plant in Merseyside. It had also pointed to "uncertainty" around the Brexit vote as well as the future of diesel vehicles as the main factors behind the "temporary adjustments".

It may be noted that Tata Motors achieved sales of more than 1-million light vehicles for the first time in the year ended March 2018. The automobile company by revenue reportedly registered a growth of 13% in FY18, the fastest pace in the past five years.

According to Economic Times report, while JLR continues to build its reputation in evolved markets overseas and competes against the German trio of Mercedes, BMW and Audi, Tata Motors made a strong comeback in the domestic market, with over 20% growth last year.

Jaguar Land Rover reportedly contributed the largest share with sales of 633,000 units, including those from its Chinese joint venture. A bounce-back in the Indian market for both passenger vehicles and small commercial vehicles, including pickup trucks, helped the group’s global sales, the report said.

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“Crossing 1 million is an important achievement as it highlights our ability to serve the needs of more than a million customers in various parts of the world,” a Tata Motors Group spokesperson said in an email.