Last week Jaguar Land Rover announced that it had taken a £3.4bn loss in the last quarter of 2018.
A huge chunk of this (£3.1bn) was due to the manufacturer having to take a write-down on the value of its investments due to a slump in demand in China.
In addition to this loss, the company also predicts that it will take a loss for the financial year as a whole, the first time this has happened for more than a decade.
JLR are far from the only car manufacturer who is struggling however. Car manufacturers from across the globe are facing unique challenges, namely the transition to electric vehicles, Brexit and increasing regulations from governments around the world regarding the demand for diesel.
The heavy loss that JLR has suffered is no surprise when you consider that its retail sales in China fell by 40% during the same quarter, negating the growth in the UK and US markets.
In order to deal with the challenges that this loss brings, JLR has announced that it will be cutting 45,000 jobs, mostly in UK management roles.
JLR’s chief executive, Ralf Speth said: “Jaguar Land Rover reported strong third-quarter sales in the UK and North America but our overall performance continued to be impacted by challenging market conditions in China.”