The Hindu Business Line : Corus, JLR act to cut costs

LONDON: Two Tata Group companies -- steel firm Corus and car maker Jaguar Land Rover -- have announced different steps to reduce costs in the wake of fall in demand for the alloy and drop in auto sales.

Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus is cutting production by 20 per cent across all its operations in response to a drop in demand in automotive, construction and engineering sectors, while premium car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover have announced job losses.

Corus will reduce output at its main sites of Port Talbot, Scunthorpe, Teesside and Rotherham in the UK and IJmuiden in the Netherlands till the end of the year when it will review output.

“The decision is aimed at aligning steel production with demand, which is now affected by the consequences of the global financial crisis,'' the company said.

The production cuts mark the first significant scaleback by Britain's main steelmaker for several years.

No job cuts or layoffs are planned among Corus's 24,400 British workforce, or among its 11,700 workers in the Netherlands.

Tata Steel, which owns Corus, said that it did not plan to make cuts outside its European operations.

On other hand, Jaguar Land Rover, the premium carmaker owned by Group company Tata Motors, is to make 198 employees redundant at its plants in Birmingham, Solihull and Merseyside.

Jaguar Land Rover, which employs 15,000 people in Britain, said that it would seek to make the cuts through voluntary redundancies.

Compared with this time last year, car sales in Britain have tumbled by more than a fifth. Jaguar insisted, however, that its job losses were unrelated to the current economic gloom. - PTI

Prev: Tata Coffee net up 44% at Rs 17 cr
Next: SEBI removes cap on debt-equity investment ratio for FIIs

Business Line | NUS Index |


Related Topics Books Browser's Corner Cinema Domestic Travel Entertainment & Leisure Fitness First Food & Cuisine Gender Health International Travel Lifestyle People Radio/TV Showbiz Social Welfare