Jaguar, the luxury car manufacturer, yesterday announced that it plans to cut 1,100 jobs at its famous Coventry plant. The plan, made public by Mark Fields (the executive of parent company Ford) will mean that car assembly at the factory will come to an end after 50 years.

Trade union representatives of workers at the plant reacted angrily to the news, with the general secretary of the T&G union suggesting that a battle was on for the "heart of Jaguar".

The company, renowned throughout the world for its production of luxury cars for consumers and of specialist sports car, is believed to have made a substantial loss in the last financial year. News of the shutdown of the Coventry plant coincided with a further announcement stating that the company would be pulling out of Formula One motor racing at the end of the current season.

The Jaguar Formula One team had returned to the sport four years ago but have been unable to compete with the large budgets being made available to other leading manufacturers, including the all-conquering Ferraris, most notably driven by German champion Michael Scumacher.

Unions react to job losses

More financial news stories