The British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has warned of a hit to profits from Donald Trump’s tariffs, after the company temporarily paused deliveries to the US.
The carmaker, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, halted shipments to America in April and removed some marketing programmes after the US president imposed a 25% duty on all foreign-made vehicles, before resuming them last month. The country accounts for more than a quarter of JLR’s sales.
As part of a presentation to investors released to the Mumbai stock exchange, JLR, which makes the Defender sports utility vehicle (SUV), said it was “reallocating available units to accessible markets” to boost profits. It is also considering raising prices in the US to help to counter the impact of tariffs.
The company said it continued to engage with the US and UK governments regarding a limited trade deal signed between the two countries in May. The deal allows the UK to export 100,000 cars a year to the US at a 10% tariff, reducing it from the 27.5% levy imposed on all countries.
Britain’s ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, said shortly after the deal was agreed that it had immediately prevented job losses at JLR’s factory in the West Midlands. JLR’s chief executive, Adrian Mardell, said the deal would help to sustain 250,000 jobs.
“This deal has saved those jobs,” Mandelson told CNN at the time. “That’s a pretty big achievement in my view, and I’m very pleased that the president has signed it.”
Its fellow British luxury carmaker Bentley also halted sales to the US as it waited for lower tariffs from the UK’s trade deal, with no clarity on when the 10% rate will start.
While orders placed directly by customers are still shipped to the US, Bentley has stopped exports of vehicles that would sit at dealerships before being sold. All its cars are produced in Crewe, Cheshire.
JLR manufactures its Range Rover SUVs in the UK, but the Defender is made in Slovakia, a member of the EU, which has not yet agreed a trade pact with the Trump administration.
Reflecting the impact of tariffs and uncertainty in the global car industry, JLR lowered its forecast for margins on underlying profits, measured by earnings before interest and taxes, to between 5% and 7% this year, from 10% previously estimated. The company achieved a profit margin of 8.5% in the year to 31 March.
Shares in Tata Motors fell by more than 5% in early trading and later traded 3.8% lower.
Analysts said JLR might be shielded to some extent from higher tariff costs as its cars were bought by wealthier customers who were unlikely to be put off by a bigger price tag. On the other hand, JLR does not have manufacturing in the US, unlike most of its rivals, such as Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Tata, a conglomerate that owns Air India, is also dealing with the fallout of last week’s plane crash near Ahmedabad, which killed at least 279 people. The group took control of the formerly state-owned airline in 2022 and merged it last year with Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines.
All but one of the passengers died after the plane crashed into buildings moments after failing to take off properly from Ahmedabad airport.
Air India’s chair, N Chandrasekaran, told staff on Monday that the crash should be a catalyst to building a safer airline. In a meeting attended by 700 staff at the airline’s headquarters near Delhi, he said the crash was the “most heartbreaking” crisis of his career.
