JLR to close one of two British plants

       Jaguar Land Rover said on Thursday that it planned to close one factory in England and would introduce a new model of the Range Rover sport utility in a bid to reverse recent losses.
       The firm, owned by Tata Motors of India, said it would decide next year whether to shut its factory at Castle Bromwich, which makes Jaguars, or its Solihull plant, which makes Range Rovers.
       No compulsory redundancies would be involved in the closure, the company said, but unions reacted angrily to the company's announcement that it will close its defined-benefit pension plan to newmembers, and make other changes for existing members.
       "While Unite welcomes moves to green the JLR product range, we are deeply concerned that an agreement struck with the union barely six months ago will not now be upheld and that the company is seeking to close the final salary pension scheme," said Dave Osborne, national officer of Unite.
       "In April our members agreed to changes to terms and conditions of their employment in order to give the company financial security, but like Oliver Twist they are coming back for more. It appears that the company is making our members pay for their failure to secure government funding."
       The GMB union "will be opposing everything we have heard so far," said Bert Hill, GMB's regional officer.
       Last month, talks collapsed with the British government about guaranteeing a ฃ340 million ($554.7 million) loan from the European Investment Bank to fund research to develop more environmentally friendly cars .
       Tata Motors said at the time it was securing guarantees from commercial banks instead.
       Jaguar Land Rover has cut about 2,500 jobs in the past year, frozen pay and canceled bonuses.
       The company has about 5,000 workers in Solihull, 2,000 in Castle Bromwich and 1,800 at Halewood near Liverpool,where it says it plans to add 800 jobs in the restructuring.
       The company also confirmed it would move into production with the compact LRX Range Rover, which was introduced as a concept model at the Detroit auto show last year. The British government has offered a grant up to ฃ27 million ($43.7 million) to support the new model.
       "This is a plan that recognises the impact the economic collapse has had on our business, and at the same time the opportunities that lie ahead for these two great brands," said Jaguar Land Rover CEO David Smith."We are confident that a new more efficient and competitive structure combined with future investment will unlock the true potential of this business."
       A 52% drop in sales at Jaguar Land Rover dragged Tata Motors to lose 3.3 billion rupees ($67.2 million) in the AprilJune quarter. Tata acquired the British carmaker from Ford last year.AP

       Rajiv Dube, left, president of passenger cars, and Rohit Suri, head of the premier car division of Tata Motors, pose with the Freelander 2 during its India launch in Mumbai on Tuesday. Tata,which recently acquired Jaguar Land Rover from Ford Motor, will sell the Freelander 2 in India with a starting price of 3,379,000 rupees (approximately $70,000).