British auto biz to witness 40,000 job losses: report

The British auto industry is expected to witness 40,000 job losses over the next three years, mainly due to falling demand for cars, says a media report.

About 800 job losses seemed at risk in the near future in the country's car industry following Japanese major Toyota Motor's warning that it would post losses, The Times reported today.

"A further 800 jobs in Britain's car industry were put at risk yesterday after Toyota Motor, the greatest example of Japans post-war economic miracle, warned that it will go into the red for the first time since 1941," the daily said.

Moreover, The Times noted that the possible job losses, which is 15 per cent of Toyota's UK workforce, "would add to the 40,000 positions expected to be eliminated from the 200,000-strong UK car industry over the next three years, as sharply declining demand for its cars is likely to trigger redundancies across Toyota's businesses."

Globally, auto industry is facing a tough time with declining sales in the wake of worsening economic turmoil.

Toyota makes Auris, Avensis and Corolla models at its plant in Burnaston and Derbyshire, and manufactures engines at its Deeside factory in North Wales, which employs 5,250 people, the report said.

The Times pointed out that the Japanese car maker recently decided to halve the number of shifts on its Auris production line and would also close its Burnaston plant for four weeks over the next four months.

According to the report, Vauxhalls owners are in talks with trade unions over pay cuts and a four-day week and has offered nine-month sabbaticals to thousands of workers at its Ellesmere Port factory in the North West of England.