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Jaguar Land Rover to cut more U.K. jobs as it moves Discovery output to Slovakia

LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to cut more jobs in Britain as it moves all production of its Discovery car to lower-cost Slovakia before building its new Range Rover at an English factory. Britain's biggest automaker, JLR has previously said its next-generation Discovery will be built at its Slovakia plant and on Monday announced there could be some job cuts in Britain as a result. "The potential losses of some agency employed staff in the UK is a tough one but forms part of our long-term manufacturing strategy as we transform our business globally," the company said in a statement. Moving production from Britain will slash several thousands of pounds off the cost per vehicle, the firm's Chief Finance Officer Ken Gregor said last year. The new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport will however be built at the firm's central English Solihull plant on an architecture which is designed to allow for diesel, petrol, electric and hybrid models to be produced. Monday's announcement comes after the firm said this year it will cut 1,000 jobs and reduce production at two of its English factories as demand for diesel cars slumps in the face of higher taxes and a regulatory crackdown. The firm has also blamed Brexit for hitting demand in Europe's second-largest autos market, where demand fell 6 percent last year, a source told Reuters in April. JLR said in January it would decide this year whether to build electric cars in its home market after announcing all of its new cars will be available in an electric or hybrid version from 2020. The company, owned by India's Tata Motors, builds nearly one in three of Britain's 1.7 millions cars but is producing its first electric vehicle, the I-Pace, in Austria. JLR's new factory in the Slovak city of Nitra is due to begin production by the end of the year and will have a capacity of up to 300,000 vehicles. It already employs 1,400 people there as it gears up to open. In Britain, the firm built just over 530,000 vehicles last year at three production facilities and also has a separate engine site and headquarters, employing roughly 40,000 people in total. Related Video: Image Credit: Reuters/Paul Ellis Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing Jaguar Land Rover SUV Luxury Off-Road Vehicles jaguar land rover jobs jlr slovakia

Is Jaguar's 3 Series-fighter the brand's last chance?

The upcoming line of compact 3 Series-fighters from Jaguar, often referred to as the Jaguar XS, could consist of a sedan, wagon and possibly a coupe and GT model (think BMW 5 Series GT). The car's all-aluminum architecture also will provide the basis for two new sports utility vehicles. Just how important is the much-touted "baby Jag" project to parent company Jaguar Land Rover? A JLR executive reportedly says the brand's survival is directly linked to the success of the XS, codenamed X760, Autocar reports.
The brand's survival is directly linked to the success of the XS.
"If the X760 fails, it will probably be the end for the [Jaguar] brand," the executive says. But Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar's global brand director, claims Jaguar will "build the most advanced, most efficient, most refined car in that [compact luxury sedan] segment. Not almost as good as, but better than the best in the world."

Jaguar F-Type Project 7 arrives Stateside for $135k*

There are a great many things we love about the Jaguar F-Type, but one of them is that, whatever price point you're looking at, there's an F-Type for you. (Well, not any price point... this is a Jag we're talking about, but pricing varies greatly.) Got $65k to spend? That'll get you into a base F-Type V6 coupe, and you'll likely be happy for it. Eighty grand will get you into an F-Type V6 S, $90k into a V8 S roadster, and a cool hundred grand will get you the top-of-the-line F-Type R coupe. But what if you want to spend more than that? What if you've got more like $165,000 in your pocket and it's burning a hole when it should be burning rubber?
Well we've got good news for you, friend, because that's exactly how much the exclusive F-Type Project 7 will set you back. Making its US debut during Monterey car week, Jaguar has announced that the most exclusive version of its two-seat sports car - revealed in production spec just recently at the Goodwood Festival of Speed - will cost $165k in the US (plus the standard $925 delivery charge). That's roughly the price of an F-Type R and a base F-Type V6.
For all that scratch, you get an open-top roadster with 575 horsepower on tap - more than any production road car Jaguar has ever made before, and that includes the XJ220 and ultra-rare XJR-15 supercars. The most potent version yet of Jaguar's ubiquitous and long-serving 5.0-liter supercharged V8 is enough to send Project 7 to 60 in 3.8 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 186 miles per hour.