Jaguar Land Rover has announced it is set to axe 500 jobs from its UK operations.
The car maker said 500 managerial jobs would be cut, saying it would offer voluntary redundancies.
It insists the job losses will not go over 1.5 per cent of its British workforce, describing the move as ‘normal business practice’ in a statement.
The car giant previously warned that tariffs on British made motors being sold to the US would have a direct hit on its profits.
MailOnline has approached JLR for comment.
This comes after the giant’s rebrand last year, which critics took aim at, calling it ‘woke’.
The firm’s revamp saw it replace the well-known badge in favour of a geometric ‘J’ design, which lovers of the brand raged looked like the logo on a handbag clasp.
Jag’s rebranding effort was three years in the making, as the iconic British automaker accelerates its transition to becoming an all-electric brand ahead of the UK’s 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles.
Launched under the tagline ‘Copy Nothing’, a nod to the philosophy of company founder Sir William Lyons, it featured a striking new ad with diverse models in vibrant, futuristic attire traversing an otherworldly landscape.
Critics accused the company of watering down its famously fierce image – ditching the snarling big cat logo in favour of a ‘friendlier’ typeface that’s left purists fuming.
The ad also focused on diversity, with androgynous models in extravagant clothing accused of straying too far from the brand’s traditional image.
Amid ongoing backlash over the dramatic shift, Jaguar’s sales in Europe have nosedived, dropping a staggering 97.5 per cent as the company navigates one of the most ambitious transformations in its history.
According to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (AECA), the company registered just 49 new vehicles in April 2025 compared to 1,961 units sold in the same month last year.
Year-to-date sales from January to April also slumped, dropping 75.1 per cent with just 2,665 motors sold.
But the British car marque has insisted the reason for the freefall in sales is not because of a lack of support or an image overhaul, but because it has stopped making older models as it focuses on its relaunch with an all-electric offering.
Defending the news, the firm said it was ‘pointless’ to compare figures for 2024 and 2025, as ‘Jaguar is not currently on sale in the UK’ while it goes through its ‘sunset period’ of radical change.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede said he was ‘baffled’ by the marketing push – which featured precisely no cars – while Oli Garnett, co-founder of creative design agency Something Familiar, called the rebrand a ‘dog’s dinner’.
Nigel Farage and Elon Musk led the wave of critics, with Farage describing it as ‘woke’ and warned the automaker risked ‘going bust’ due to its new design choice.
And billionaire Space X owner Musk turned the knife on X, simply asking Jaguar: ‘Do you sell cars?’
But Jaguar’s managing director Rawdon Glover fired back at what he called ‘vile hatred and intolerance’.
Mr Glover, head of the Indian-owned marque, denied accusations that Jaguar was abandoning its proud near-century-long heritage. Instead, he insisted the bold new direction was about ditching ‘traditional automotive stereotypes’ to carve out a fresh identity in an evolving market.
‘The overall reaction has been very positive,’ he said, ‘but I’ve been disappointed by the level of vile hatred and intolerance directed at the people in the ad.’
‘If we play the same game as everyone else, we’ll just get drowned out,’ Glover added. ‘We shouldn’t show up like a typical auto brand. We need to re-establish Jaguar at a completely different price point—and that means doing things differently.’
The brand previously sounded the alarm over Donald Trump’s punishing new tariffs warning the move will take a hefty bite out of profits.
The UK’s biggest car maker slashed its annual profit forecast in June, telling investors it expected margins to drop to between five and seven per cent – a sharp fall from last year’s 8.5 per cent, and well below the 10.7 per cent it posted in the first quarter.
The slump comes after JLR was forced to halt all U.S. shipments for a month starting in April, following Trump’s decision to slap a 25% import tax on foreign-built cars.
In a reprieve, the UK signed a trade deal in May, which allows it to export 100,000 cars a year to the US under a 10 per cent tariff.
Although JLR produces its Range Rover cars in Britain, its popular Defender SUV is made in Slovakia, which is still subject to heavier tariffs.
