Jaguar cuts 400 despite sales surge

LUXURY carmaker Jaguar is to cut 400 jobs, or nearly 4% of its work force. The company, owned by US giant Ford, said the cuts were designed to improve its 'skills mix' and were not linked to sales figures.

'Global sales are actually up by 57% from last year and in the US, which is our big market, they are up by 63%,' a spokesman said.

The Halewood plant on Merseywide, which makes the X-Type 'Baby Jag,' will lose 150 jobs. A further 250 will go from factories in Birmingham and Coventry. Jaguar hoped to make the cuts through voluntary redundancy and early retirement. It currently employs about 11,000 across the UK.