Jaguar Land Rover suffers massive fourth-quarter loss

Jaguar Land Rover has posted a £3.4 billion ($6.2 billion) loss for the fourth quarter of 2018, on the back of low demand for diesel engines and sluggish sales in China.

The result is the company's worst quarterly loss, driven in part by a £3.1 billion ($5.7 billion) write-down on the value of its investments.

Half of that figure came as JLR admitted its investments in land and facilities weren't worth what they originally though, while the other half is attributable to 'goodwill impairments', essentially an acknowledgment future earnings potential is likely diminished.

Last month, the company announced plans to slash around 10 per cent of its workforce. Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover owner, says the savings from the program would be reflected in results for the first quarter of 2019.

Speaking with CarAdvice in October last year, Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth said the production slowdown was caused by something of a perfect storm.

Along with the global decline in demand for diesel, uncertainty surrounding the US and Chinese trade war has played a role in the downturn as well.

“We have five global regions around the world and we are more or less nicely balanced in terms of volume across these markets, but depending on the level of downturn in China, the impact is most likely heavily affect the premium car market as a whole, no ifs or buts,” Speth said.

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