Jaguar sinking fast, staff face possible job cuts

The auto industry limelight may not be shining on Jaguar at the moment, but the Coventry-based carmaker is still in major financial trouble. Its recent C-XF concept car managed to shift focus away from its loss making operations, but now the $715 million hole left in last year’s results has come back to bite the big cat hard.

British publication The Observer is reporting that Ford is considering major job cuts at Jaguar and is determined to increase profitability of its Premier Automotive Group (PAG). There’s even rumor that the sale of Jaguar and possibly Land Rover is still on the cards despite denials from Ford execs. Just last week, union officials sent a letter to Ford demanding information surrounding any possible sale.

Ford acknowledges that Jaguar isn’t likely to break even until the end of the decade at the earliest, and Blue Oval shareholders are starting to sharpen their knives. First agenda on the chopping block is a likely reduction in staff numbers, something that has been a long time coming.

Jaguar’s over-conservative styling has always been an issue, but the carmaker has shown that there is definitely some life in the brand with its latest C-XF concept car. It’s also thought that the replacement for the slow-selling XJ will also follow Jag’s new radical design theme. Let's hope.