Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is to cut 4,000 jobs over the next two years as the British carmaker faces mounting pressure from Chinese competition, US tariffs, and the shift to electric vehicles.

The redundancies will primarily affect the company's UK head office. JLR employs 43,000 people globally.

The company said it hopes to achieve the cuts through voluntary redundancy, with a window open until 4 October. Affected staff will receive notification by email in the coming days. JLR warned it would proceed with compulsory redundancies on less generous terms if the voluntary process does not deliver sufficient numbers.

The redundancies are part of an effort to save £1.7 billion over the next two years.

Chief executive PB Balaji said the firm was "committed to supporting everyone with care, fairness and respect" through the process. "The automotive industry faces significant challenges, with technological change amidst intense competition and ongoing geo-political uncertainty," he added.

JLR's difficulties were compounded by a cyberattack last year that forced the company to shut down production for more than a month. In its results for the year to the end of March, JLR said US tariffs and the cyberattack were the main reasons its sales had fallen by a fifth, dropping to £22.9 billion from £29 billion in the previous two years.

Unlike many of its rivals, JLR does not have a manufacturing facility in the United States, leaving it more exposed to President Donald Trump's tariffs. The company has also lost ground to Chinese rivals in markets it had previously viewed as growth opportunities.

Ian Robertson, a former director at BMW, said JLR should have followed competitors and established US manufacturing earlier. "The biggest operation for BMW in the world is in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Mercedes have their plant further south in Tuscaloosa. JLR didn't take that decision early enough in my view," he said. Robertson also said JLR had been "somewhat late to the party in terms of producing their first electric car which is just about to go into production," and that Brexit had hurt the firm despite its factory in Slovakia providing "some flexibility."

David Bailey, professor of business and economics at Birmingham University, described JLR as "as strategically important as it gets for the UK economy" and said many jobs across the country's supply chain depended on it. "It's the centre of our automotive industry," he said.

The UK government said it understood the news would be "an uncertain and concerning time for affected workers, their families and the wider communities." A spokesman for the Prime Minister confirmed that Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was "in close contact with JLR" and would be meeting the company early this week, but ruled out "any form of bailout."

Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, called the cuts a "body blow for workers, families and communities across the West Midlands." He called for "urgent assurances that maximum support will be deployed to help everyone affected find new work."

The announcement has reignited debate over the UK's zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires all new car and van sales in the country to be zero emission by 2035. The policy was introduced by the previous Conservative government and retained under Labour. Critics note it applies only to UK sales, while JLR generates most of its revenue from overseas markets.

Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden said the ZEV mandate and higher energy costs were "crippling the British automotive industry" and pledged to scrap the policy.

Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, said at the weekend that the mandate was "unsustainable" and that the UK car industry had suffered from "years of underinvestment" under both Labour and the Conservatives. "Death by a thousand cuts has been going on under the nose of successive governments," she said.

The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association defended the mandate, previously describing it as "crucial for attracting finance into this infrastructure as it sets out a clear, predictable pathway for the growth of the electric vehicle market."