Jaguar Land Rover provided some relief to a beleaguered UK car sector as it announced a five-year loan facility worth £560mln (US$705mln) with a consortium of Chinese lenders.
Coronavirus has hit carmakers hard, especially at the luxury end with Aston Martin announcing 500 job cuts earlier this week and Bentley cutting 1,000 staff today.
The loan facility would help the group better manage its cashflow during the coronavirus epidemic, said JLR China’s finance chief Arthur Yu.
JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, is also reportedly seeking £2bn in support from the UK government through the COVID-19 support programme and tax breaks and incentive.