Jaguar Land Rover has reported a quarterly loss of £3.4bn after it took a major write-down in the value of its investments as the car industry struggles.

The results for the three months to the end of December come weeks after the British car maker, owned by India's Tata Motors, said it was cutting 4,500 jobs as part of a turnaround plan.

JLR said that, stripping out one-off items, it made a loss of £273m for the period, mainly due to lower sales in China - a problem it has previously flagged.

It also said it was taking a £3.1bn accounting charge related to the "muted demand scenario" for the wider car industry.

JLR said the sector was facing "significant market, technological and regulatory headwinds" while at the same time investment in new models, electrification and other technologies remained high.


Chief executive Ralf Speth said: "This accounting adjustment is consistent with the other decisive actions that we must take... enabling Jaguar Land Rover to counter the multiple economic, geopolitical, technological and regulatory headwinds presently impacting the automotive industry."

He added that JLR reported strong third quarter sales in the UK and North America "but our overall performance continued to be impacted by challenging market conditions in China".

JLR sold a total of 144,602 vehicles in the quarter, down 6% on last year.

Dr Speth said: "This is a difficult time for the industry, but we remain focused on ensuring sustainable and profitable growth, and making targeted investments, that will secure our business in the future."

JLR operates factories in Halewood, Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

The company has also been grappling with the shift away from diesel and the impact of Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

It has warned a hard Brexit could cost it £1.2bn a year.

The results come days after Nissan pulled plans to build new X-Trail models at its UK plant in Sunderland - blamed on emissions rules and a weaker sales outlook as well as Brexit.