Jaguar Land rover to receive financial aid

Jan 27 2009 by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Mail

JAGUAR Land Rover is to receive financial aid to keep production lines moving during the banking crisis, Ministers were announcing this afternoon.

Months of negotiations finally paid off, with Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announcing plans to inject cash into the automotive industry.

The Government’s measures focus on making credit available to Britain’s largest firms, including carmakers, who are finding it impossible to get loans from banks.

They also include cash for “green” research and development, where Jaguar Land Rover leads the way.

But Downing Street insisted that the package, which includes both short- and long-term help, was not a “bail-out”.

Ministers hope the proposals could save thousands of jobs in the West Midlands. The Birmingham Mail has been campaigning for government support to save jobs in both Jaguar Land Rover and the thousands of small businesses which supply it.