Tata Motors is ready to handle disruptions in production, in case DHL staff go on strike at its Jaguar Land Rover’s plants in the UK.
“These are not our employees. These are the employees of our logistics partner, DHL,” a Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) spokesman told Business Line , adding that the company was not aware of the exact dates of the proposed strike.
“We continue to monitor developments closely and hope that both parties can reach a satisfactory agreement as soon as possible,” he added, but declined to divulge the plans Tata Motors has in place.
According to reports from the UK, workers at DHL, which delivers parts to JLR plants, last week voted to go on strike. They are demanding a pay rise and terms and conditions similar to that provided to JLR staff.
JLR, the British luxury carmaker, is owned by India’s largest automobile manufacturer Tata Motors.
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Further details of the strike, such as the date and the production lines where the DHL’s delivery workers intend to go on strike, were not immediately known.
DHL has about 1,800 workers at JLR’s three main factories. Of these. 1,000 are employed between Castle Bromwich and Solihull and the remaining at Halewood, Merseyside.
Back home, Tata Motors’ shares fell as investors expected the strike at JLR to impact deliveries from the three production units in the UK. JLR had contributed 72 per cent of Tata Motors revenues in the financial year ended March 31.
Tata Motors shares closed down 2.7 per cent at Rs 288.20 on the BSE on Monday.
SPORTSCAR LAUNCH
On Monday, JLR launched the Jaguar F-Type, a two-seater convertible sports-car, in two variants — F-Type S and F-Type V8S — in India. The F-Type S is priced at Rs 1.37 crore and the F-Type V8S at Rs 1.61 crore (ex-showroom Mumbai, pre-Octroi).
“The Jaguar F-Type is our all-new, two-seater sports-car and we believe it will be a game-changer for the Indian sports-car market,” said JLR India Vice-President Rohit Suri.
Separately, the company said its Jaguar India sales grew 68 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal year. This growth was helped by the locally-assembled Jaguar XF 2.2-litre diesel, which was launched earlier this year.