More job losses could be on the way after West Midlands car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company made a loss of £267 million in 10 months.

Indian giant Tata Motors has blamed the “global meltdown” for falling sales of luxury cars. Tata’s profits the previous year were at £388m before it bought the company from Ford for £1.5bn last June.

The losses relate to the period ending March this year.

Around 2,000 staff at Jaguar Land Rover have already lost their jobs but the company still employs 15,000, who now fear for their jobs amid hints of further cost-cutting.

JLR was profitable in the first half of the year before succumbing to the downturn, with Tata’s accounts showing losses of £224m at the business.

In a statement the firm said: “The global meltdown, especially after July 2008 with vehicle financing and demands drying up, impacted the auto industry worldwide, including Jaguar Land Rover.

“In 2008 therefore, Land Rover sales fell considerably. However, Jaguar was able to maintain the sales level primarily on the back of a very strong consumer response to the newly launched XF sedan.

“The company has actively responded to this changed situation by taking a number of urgent and long term measures.

“These include cutting costs drastically and working on a plan of substantial cost reduction, aligning production with demand and tight control over cash flows. In addition, the company has introduced successfully new variants on both Jaguar and Land Rover brands, and is to unveil the all new XJ sedan shortly.”

Workers at the company’s sites, including Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside, agreed to a one-year pay freeze and shorter working week in March in order to cut costs