Jaguar Will Stick To V8s And Diesels Just To Stay Alive

Despite the facade that Jaguar Land Rover's army of good-looking cars puts forth, things haven't been too peachy for JLR lately. This past February, it posted an eye-popping $4.4 billionloss during 2018's Q4. The loss was partially a result of reducing the value of its plants and other investments following a $3.15 billion cost-cutting plan that itself wasspurred by a bad Q3in 2018. So where do the cuts and losses leave the struggling but storied automaker now? According to what JLR CEO Ralf Speth toldAutomotive News, they leave JLR with jobs to cut, expenditures and investments to reduce, simplification of processes to be made, and with a commitment to stick with gasoline and diesel engines for the foreseeable future.

Speth was even asked whether getting rid of JLR was an option for its parent company, Tata Motors, but he replied that the Indian auto giant was too committed to consider such a large shake-up. Instead, Jaguar Land Rover is going to do its best to focus on the short-term just so it can stay alive. "We are getting down to business anywhere we can improve efficiency in the short term," said Speth. But that doesn't mean JLR can afford to affix blinders to itself and ignore the future. Ignoring the future is what previously landed Jaguar in a position similar to Cadillac, where it had more sedans in its lineup than SUVs and wherequality complaintspiled high. That's gradually changing, but the pace needs to continue. Expanding at the same time that JLR needs to make cuts, however, is going to be tough. "We would have liked to be in a different place at this point," said Speth in regards to that.