Jaguar Land Rover is cutting 500 jobs at its Halewood plant on Merseyside with workers told the losses were a result of changing shift patterns which will come into effect from April.
The job losses comprise a mixture of permanent employees and agency (temporary) staff and account for over 10% of the plant's workforce, the Unite union said.
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It said in a statement it had negotiated the loss of the permanent employees would be through an enhanced voluntary redundancy scheme.
Describing the move as a "fresh blow to the car industry", Unite said it "understands the job losses are a result of moving from a three shift system to a two plus shift system that will deliver flexibility efficiencies that longer term should benefit both employees and the company".
Tata Motors owned JLR in January 2019 said it was cutting 4,500 jobs from its global workforce, with most of the reduction set for the UK workforce that stands at 40,000. The company described cost-cutting measures as the "next phase of major transformation plan to lay foundations for long-term sustainable profitable growth". The headcount reduction was in addition to the 1,500 who left the company during 2018. The next phase of this transformation programme would begin with a voluntary redundancy programme in the UK. JLR said the strategic review would "create a leaner, more resilient organisation with a flatter management structure".
The union said it understood the redundancies were a result of ongoing economic uncertainty, with slower than forecast rates of growth for the Evoque and Discovery Sport models produced at the factory.
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By GlobalDataThe union also said: "The challenges being faced at JLR are also being experienced by other UK car factories.
"The UK's car industry has plummeted from being the jewel in the crown of the UK's manufacturing sector in a few short years, directly as a result of government inaction.
"Until the government ensures that there is long-term frictionless trade and no tariffs with the European Union along with meaningful investment in the infrastructure to ensure the success of electric vehicles, the UK's car industry will continue to experience severe challenges."
The company said in a statement cited by the BBC: "This is about efficiency, not loss of volume.
"Through its ongoing transformation programme, Jaguar Land Rover is taking action to optimise performance, enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business.
"Central to the Halewood manufacturing strategy, we are moving from a three-shift to a 'two-plus' shift pattern from April 2020.
"This will deliver significant operating efficiencies at the plant, while enabling us to meet the growing customer demand for our new Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport."
Employees currently work early, late and night shifts – under the 'two-plus' pattern, this will change to just early and late shifts, the firm said, with capacity to increase production when required.
Applications for voluntary redundancy will open in early February with people expected to leave on 10 April, the BBC added.
