Jobs and sales growth for UK automotive industry

UK car manufacturers are on a roll, with positive announcements from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), BMW Group and Volkswagen Group in the last two weeks – welcome news to engineers considering graduate jobs in this sector.

Jaguar Land Rover

JLR announced last week that it is to create 1,100 new jobs at its Castle Bromwich plant in the West Midlands. These will be production operator jobs; however, JLR does run a graduate scheme, which has expanded rapidly in the last two years. The company has also reported a 19% rise in sales in the first half of 2012, compared with the first half of 2011.

BMW Group

The BMW Group, which manufactures its Mini brand in the UK, has reported strong sales figures. The number of vehicles sold in the second quarter of 2012 rose by 5.4% to a record 475,011 units, while sales volumes for the first six months of 2012 rose by 8.1% to 900,539 – another record for the company. Revenues for the second quarter and the first six months were both also up (by 7.3% and 10.5% respectively), though profits were down, with BMW citing a number of reasons such as increased expenditure and record second quarter earnings in 2011 to explain the disparity.

Volkswagen Group

The Volkswagen Group has also reported strong growth for the first half of 2012. Its sales revenue was up 22.6% compared to the first half of 2011, with operating profit up 6.7%. Vehicle sales rose by 12.4% to 4.6 million. While Volkswagen’s main manufacturing bases are overseas, its Bentley brand is manufactured in Crewe and runs a graduate scheme. Volkswagen also operates a UK-based graduate scheme focused on business and finance functions in partnership with Volkswagen Financial Services and services and outsourcing company Serco.

Renault

News at French-based manufacturer Renault has been less positive. In the first half of 2012, sales were down 3.3% compared with the same period in 2011, with revenues down 0.8%. Renault does not manufacture in the UK, though it does recruit graduates into business roles at its UK sales base in Hertfordshire.

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Thursday 2nd August 2012