Land
Rover has categorically denied a newspaper report that the firm is to halve its
8,000 strong workforce in the Midlands within two years.
A
report in the Daily Telegraph claimed that Land Rover staff would be reduced to
just 3,000 or 4,000 and that the company was considering manufacturing cars
abroad.
But
Kay Francis, manager of corporate communications for Land Rover, which was
bought by Ford last year, said the story was completely off the mark.
“We
completely reject claims we are about to halve our workforce. We have very
large expansion plans for Solihull and we intend to up our production from
170,000 units to 275,000 to 300,000 units within five years.
“We
have a £130 million investment in plant and equipment and we are updating our
old production line. We have no plans to manufacture cars abroad,” she said.
The
T&G union supported the company’s line on the speculation. Tony Woodley, T&G’s
chief negotiator for the car industry, said, “Speculation surrounding jobs and
future model development at Land Rover in Solihull is both unwarranted and
unhelpful.”
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