Jaguar Land Rover hit by stagnating Chinese market as losses mount

Britain’s largest car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has endured quarterly losses of £3.4bn after taking a write-down in the value of its investments, amid falling Chinese demand.

The results for the last three months of last year have left the firm expecting a loss for the full financial year for the first time in 10 years, and come weeks after the firm, owned by India’s Tata Motors, announced 4,500 job cuts as part of a turnaround scheme.

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Most of the pre-tax loss came from the write-down, costing £3.1bn from an accounting charge related to the “muted demand scenario” which has hit the car industry in recent months.

JLR’s Chinese sales, which account for roughly one-in-seven of its global sales, fell 40 per cent year-on-year, which offset growth in the US and British markets. US sales rose 20 per cent and 18 per cent in the UK.

The firm said “significant market, technological and regulatory headwinds” were affecting the sector, while investment in new models and changing technology was still high.

Chief executive Ralf Speth said: “This accounting adjustment is consistent with the other decisive actions that we must take… enabling Jaguar Land Rover to counter the multiple economic, geopolitical, technological and regulatory headwinds presently impacting the automotive industry.”

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He added that JLR reported strong third quarter sales in the UK and North America “but our overall performance continued to be impacted by challenging market conditions in China”.

JLR sold 144,602 vehicles in the last quarter, down six per cent year-on-year.