Jaguar Land Rovers aid seeking £1b govt loan

 

LONDON: Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Indian group Tata Motors, is in talks with the British government about a sizeable loan to prop up the employer of thousands of workers in Britain, a newspaper reported yesterday.

The Sunday Times said Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was in talks regarding a loan of STG1 billion (RM5.36 billion).

The iconic brands Jaguar and Land Rover together employ about 15,000 workers in Britain, whose car industry like the US car sector is suffering at the hands of a global economic slowdown.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown was considering the JLR proposal and could deliver a verdict in a couple of weeks, said The Sunday Times.

In response to the report, a spokesman for JLR said: "The automotive industry is facing unprecedented trading conditions as a direct fall out of the banking crisis and turbulence in financial markets and we are of course keeping government appraised of the impact on our business."

Tata Motors completed in June its acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover from ailing US carmaker Ford for US$2.3 billion (US$1 = RM3.63). - AFP