Jaguar Land Rover chalked up joint pre-tax losses of nearly £350 million last year as the worst recession for decades took a huge toll on the automotive sector.
The group said the 2008 annual accounts filed at Companies House demonstrated the “significant impact” of the global recession and credit crunch on the automotive sector and the premium segment in particular.
The results showed that while both brands were loss-making, Land Rover has taken the biggest hit from falling sar sales, with a £700 million swing into the red.
The firm said: “Jaguar Cars Ltd posted a pre-tax loss of £41.6 million versus a profit of £252.6 million in 2007 and Land Rover posted a loss of £308 million for the year, versus a £407.9 million profit in the prior year.
“Jaguar Cars Ltd and Land Rover jointly returned a pre-tax loss of £349.6 million in 2008 – compared with a combined pre-tax profit of £660.5 million in 2007, reflecting the severe impact of the global recession on the automotive sector and the premium segment in particular,” the spokesman added.
The group, owned by Indian firm Tata Motors, stressed that the latest accounts were unconsolidated, representing only UK-based components of the two brands.
Jaguar turnover was £2,104.9 million, which compares to £1,149 million in 2007, after sales were boosed by additional income stream and manufacture/sale of Freelander 2 to Land Rover.
Land Rover turnover was £4,557.1 million, down from £5,460.6 million in 2007.
A spokesman for the group also said the total headcount across the company had fallen by 2,000 through voluntary redundancies and the termination of agency posts.
The statement added: “Land Rover has secured bank credit approval for new secured facilities totaling £125 million for three to five years, plus a letter of intent (shared with Jaguar) for an additional £100 million for at least one year over and above existing Tata facilities from a Tata affiliated company.”
JLR announced 300 jobs would be axed at its Halewood plant, in Merseyside, earlier this year after putting an end to its X-Type model, which was brought in by BMW in the 1990s.
The company remains locked in talks with the Government over a £175 million European Investment Bank loan to help the firm get through the recession.
But discussions are in limbo after a letter leaked by to the Birmingham Post’s sister newspaper the Coventry Telegraph last week proved to be another setback, with Tata reportedly furious at Lord Mandelson’s Business Department.
