Formula1 2004 (Ferrari and Michael Schumacher champions)

Ferrari can already today win the Constructors championship.

Jaguar will cease car production at its Browns Lane plant in Coventry with the loss of more than 1,150 jobs, the US car giant Ford said today.

About 750 of the redundancies will be compulsory; 400 will be offered on voluntary terms. There will be 400 new openings at the new Aston Martin plant at Gaydon, Warwickshire, while another 400 workers will transfer to Castle Bromwich in Birmingham.

Jaguar, one of Ford's luxury car brands, said the voluntary redundancies would be on the "best ever" terms given by the company and that a "substantial" programme of support would be given to workers affected.

The firm said there would be a potential net loss of 100 manufacturing jobs as a result of today's announcement.

Union leaders were given the news at a meeting with senior Ford and Jaguar executives in the West Midlands. They condemned the move and vowed to "fight like tigers" to keep the manufacture of quality cars in the UK.

The Transport and General Workers' Union and Amicus said they were concerned the decision could lead to further closures in the future. They warned that they intended to "draw a line in the sand" to prevent any further job cuts.

Jaguar said production of its XJ saloon and XK sports models would transfer to its factory at Castle Bromwich. Coventry would remain its home and Browns Lane would continue to be its headquarters.

Browns Lane, regarded as Jaguar's "spiritual home", will continue to employ 310 staff making polished veneer panels for the company's famed leather-and-wood interiors.


The plant, which opened in 1951, employs 2,000 people. Some of Jaguar's most distinctive brands, notably the E-Type, came from the factory.

Jaguar, acquired by Ford in 1989, was supposed to be a major source of profits for the US firm but has become a financial drag because of falling US sales, owing to the strong pound, and high operating costs.

Ford's car and truck sales are down 4.5% so far this year, though one bright spot has been good sales of the F-150 pick-up, which was revamped last year.

"There's no way that in the long term this company can succeed without at least stable market share, if not growing share," said John Casesa, an analyst from Merrill Lynch.

Jaguar also announced that it would be withdrawing from Formula One racing at the end of the year, saying it was time "to focus 100%" on its core business.

Editorial

Three-Car Teams - The Prospect Grows Nearer
Saturday September 18 2004
With the withdrawal of Jaguar from F1 at the end of the season we could be facing a grid of 18 cars in 2005. Or it might be even less...

Sir Jackie Stewart, one of the sport's legendary names, yesterday pleaded with Bernie Ecclestone and the Government to "think again" after the British Grand Prix was dropped from the provisional 2005 Formula One calendar.

The dropping of the oldest race on the world championship schedule followed irreconcilable differences between F1's commercial rights holder, Ecclestone, and the British Racing Drivers' Club, who own the Silverstone circuit.

Stewart, who is the BDRC's president, said: "We regret that the Government, unlike governments in almost every other country which host a grand prix, have not been able to pull together a package to help the retention of the grand prix in this country.

"Even at this late stage we would ask Mr Ecclestone and the Government to think again and see if we can retain the grand prix for the sake of the industry, sport and the country."

Ecclestone was not in a consolatory mood. "We're not dealing with businessmen ­ were dealing with an gentlemen's club, which is a bit short of gentlemen actually. They [the BDRC] should be running tennis," he said last night.

The collapse of talks and the BRDC's failure to come up with the fee Ecclestone requires from European race organisers have removed Britain's most important motor racing event after an unbroken run of 54 years.

"I have 17 contracts with race sites which I will put forward to

the world council of the FIA [the sport's governing body] for ratification on 13 October as the calendar for the 2005 season, and the British Grand Prix is not among them," Ecclestone said .

The British Grand Prix opened the world championship

in 1950, but the BRDC has come under increasing threat as anti-tobacco legislation started to drive the sport further afield.

The Chinese government invested $240m (£132.5m) in the opulent venue for last weekend's inaugural Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai, and a further $40m per year fee for Ecclestone. "There is no way we can ever compete with that kind of funding," said Stewart, the former triple world champion.

Ecclestone wanted £8.9m from the BRDC to stage the

2005 event. The BRDC's chief executive, Alex Hooten, said he was hopeful that a counter offer, believed to be £6m, would be acceptable to Ecclestone. "Our offer falls short of what Mr Ecclestone requires but it is an offer that doesn't offer any real prospect of making any profit at all. Indeed, it exposes us to making a considerable loss," he said.

However, Ecclestone ­ who once said of Silverstone, "It is like an old house that claims to need only a few repairs. Actually it needs major reconstruction. I don't see a future for it" ­ warned the BRDC not to play hardball. "I am the wrong guy to play hardball with. I have had a lot of practice and I'm pretty good at it."

Hooten said the only help the BRDC received from the Government was to help negotiations with Ecclestone, but hoped ministers might make up the shortfall. That is unlikely after the furore surrounding Tony Blair's newly formed leadership back in 1997 when Ecclestone donated £1m to New Labour.

Stewart warns that losing the British GP could cost the country its technological superiority in motor sport. "If we lose it, we will lose the industry in a matter of six to 10 years, maximum."

After the prolonged, acrimonious arguments, it was inevitable that the British GP had to die in order to live again. But all may not be lost. There is a suggestion that the FIA's statutes contain a covenant to protect key historical races ­ Britain, Italy, Monaco and France. Both the French and Canadian GPs were left off the initial provisional calendars for 2004, but each found the necessary funding at the 11th hour.

Ecclestone has made it clear that while there is no leeway to include the race in the 17 grand prix he is contractually obliged to offer to the FIA, an accommodation could be reached. "If I were to receive a signed contract from Silverstone, I would then have to go to all the teams and ask if they were prepared to participate in 18 races," he said. "If they want 18, I couldn't care less. It's Britain, it's possible."

The British GP may be given a reprieve if the funding is sourced before the world council meets to ratify the calendar on 13 October. But Ecclestone said he had no objection to the race being reinstated for 2006.