this is the business briefing, i'm maryam moshiri. rough road ahead for jaguar land rover. the luxury carmaker could announce thousands of job cuts, as it battles brexit, diesel decline and a china slowdown. plus: fear and loathing in las vegas. why the odds are stacked against chinese players at this year's us tech fair. and on the markets, hopes of a truce in the us—china trade war still boosting wall street, helped by a a more doveish tone from the federal reserve in terms of further interest rises. asian shares taking a bit of a breather, though, after three days of gains. it is one of the icons of the british car industry, and it has enjoyed a new era of global success under the ownership of india's tata.

but, over the past year, the road has got decidedly rougher forjaguar land rover. later today, we will find outjust how rough when it releases sales numbers for 2018 and its plans for the coming year. workers fear that could mean substantial job losses. the company announced a restructuring plan last year to save $3.2 billion in costs. 1,000 jobs have already been cut at plants in the uk, with reports that 5,000 more could go. a slump in diesel sales has hit the company hard. at the end of 2017, 90% of land rover cars were diesel, and the company has been criticised for being too slow to refocus on hybrid and electric vehicles. then there is the b—word. jlr's supply chain is very dependent on frictionless cross—border trade. the ceo has called the prospect of no deal horifying, warning it could cost the company $1.5 billion a year. and, on top of all that,

there is the problem of china. it is the biggest car market in the world and jlr's biggest export market. on wednesday, industry data showed the first annual fall in car sales in china in more than two decades. let's get more on this story. david maddenjoins us from cmc markets in london. china has been the most profitable market. what are we expecting jaguar land rover to tell us? i think we are going to see furtherjob losses. as you mentioned, over 1000 jobs went from its operation in the uk last year. given the uncertainty in the wider car set and to a lesser extent in relation to brexit, the outlook

is going to be as good forjaguar land rover as it once was. it is largely a story to do with emissions. emissions crackdown has been a major issue, living in a more eco— friendly world has been popular between european governments and china as well. the chinese economy is slowing down. the chinese middle class previously had a very high appetite for luxury british brands, but given that the economy is cooling, there is uncertainty going on with the united states in relation to trade and overnight we saw chinese inflation dropped, once again suggesting demand is weakening. these are all issues for jaguar land rover. about a quarter of last you's revenue came from china, one of the larger markets is slowing. adding to that, to a lesser extent, some british consumers may be holding back on big—ticket items such as a—wheel drives and luxury ca i’s such as a—wheel drives and luxury cars because of the uncertainty

around the exit. 50 what cars because of the uncertainty around the exit. so what does the city want to see from jaguar land rover? what changes do we want to see happen from this company, other than obviously the usual cost cutting exercises that everyone where you are loves? cost-cutting is all well and good but it is about the next move. jaguar land rover has some pretty decent sales in the united states last year, so i think that they need to readdress their focus away from china, which is still doing quite well by western standards, but is slowing down, and look towards trimming their exposure to diesel related engines. 0ver look towards trimming their exposure to diesel related engines. over 90% of vehicles sold here in the uk last year we re of vehicles sold here in the uk last year were diesel. there has been a major crackdown on diesel in relation to emissions. producing more petrol vehicles, and those two issues are injaguar land rover‘s control. the exit is a different story. it is indeed, and one we will be talking about, i am sure, in the coming days. the us and china have wrapped up

three days of trade talks in beijing with some optimistic statements. rico hizon is following the story. you are the king of optimism, and last week on friday we were talking about this. we were saying that looking ahead to these talks, if they're going to be some sort of progress? quite low level representatives talking, but it has been pretty good, hasn't it? absolutely, it has been described by the commerce ministry of china as trade talks that were expensive, deep and detailed. it is said that the two sides established a foundation for the resolution of each other‘s concerns, and agreed to maintain close contact. no timeline was given on the next steps in the negotiation process. the americans still, listening to them they were

more subdued, but their assessment say that negotiations wentjust fine. washington presented raging with a long list of demands which would rewrite the terms of trade between the world's two largest economies, including changes to policies on intellectual property protection, technology transfers, industrial subsidies, and other nontariff barriers to trade. and last year the trump administration said china had promised to purchase a substantial amount of agricultural, energy and manufacturing jobs from america. if a deal is not reached by first march, trump said he would increase duties the next day. time is ticking. let's go to las vegas now, where more than 150,000 people are expected to attend the consumer electronics show this week, the largest of its kind in the world. but one of the biggest talking points this year isn't new products, but the growing tension between the us and china, particularly on technology. 0ur north america technology reporter dave lee is there. for decades, ces has been

a thrilling ride into the future of the global tech industry. a multimillion—dollar sales pitch of the weird, the wonderful, and maybe, the ground—breaking. companies from china have long been a familiar sight, with firms like huawei now taking up almost as much room as the top us names. it makes business sense for them to come here, ‘cause they can meet their buyers from all around the world. but, while huawei has come out in force for this tech show, none of the us phone networks offer their smartphones. and that's because the us government is concerned that china might use them to spy on americans. we don't believe there's any evidence in the world of any issues regarding huawei and huawei products,

and we're more than happy to have a conversation with the us government about how to come up with a security insurance framework geared towards the united states. tensions rose further when huawei's chief financial officer, meng wa nzhou, was arrested in december. she is fighting extradition to the united states, where she faces charges of bank fraud, allegations she denies. and then there is the ongoing trade war between the two countries, which threatens to impact tech firms greatly. the climate is making it harder for chinese companies to find success in the us. chinese brands in the us have always struggled, so they never have had a significant market share. i think, with the amount of power that huawei has, they could have had a really big impact, again, as we've seen with the rest of europe, on the us market. most here hope and expect the trade dispute to pass, but there is a growing atmosphere of suspicion between the two global superpowers over how they use new technology. dave lee, bbc news, in las vegas. more from las vegas throughout the

week on bbc news. now let's brief you on some other business stories: carmaker fiat chrysler will pay more than $700 million to settle lawsuits from the us justice department and diesel owners, according to reports. it has been sued for allegedly using software to cheat emissions rules — claims it denies. but, in october, it set aside more than $800 million to cover potential costs related to the case. uk retail sales were flat in december as stores experienced their worst christmas in a decade, according to the british retail consortium. total retail sales showed 0% year—on—year growth during the month, the worst december performance since 2008. amazon founder and ceo jeff bezos and his wife, mackenzie, are to divorce after a 25—year marriage. mr bezos is the world's richest person, according to the bloomberg billionaire index, with an estimated wealth of $137 billion, some $115 billion ahead of bill gates. amazon this week overtook microsoft to become the world's most valuable listed company.

and now, what is trending in the business news this morning? the wall streetjournal warns the government shutdown could delay projects to build and fix america's crumbling highways and bridges. bloomberg features a frustrating road trip around europe in a tesla. it says it is less fun than you would think, because a 10—hour drive needed almost 12 hours of charging. and some gossip on the jeff bezos divorce. business insider says the world's richest person is reportedly dating former tv anchor lauren sanchez, who is still married. it also says his wife, mackenzie, could well become the world's richest woman follwing the divorce. and don't forget, let is know what you are spotting online.

use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. that's it for the business briefing this hour. but before we go, here are the markets. the hang seng is taking a bit of a breather, the nikkei, both those indices were down after spirits were lifted on the hopes of a resolution with china. up next: newsbriefing. a lorry driver has been arrested after 27 suspected migrants were found in the back of his vehicle on the m6. a part of the motorway near stoke—on—trent was closed in both directions while police carried out searches, causing long delays. ben ando reports. a busy motorway brought to a

standstill. hundreds of cars gridlocked. thousands of travellers stuck for hours. eyewitnesses said the police were stopping lorries on the police were stopping lorries on the m6 near stoke—on—trent, and in one, 27 suspected migrants were discovered. i did see a few of them roll up the motorway, and the police gave chase. it was astounding. they opened a trailer doors, and just watched piling out the back, there's one, there's another, wait, there's another. when is this going to stop? ina another. when is this going to stop? in a statement, police said... —— staffordshi re in a statement, police said... —— staffordshire police said... this woman was pictured trying to

get her baby to sleep, standing in the outside lane, and many on social media asked why stopping one lorry led to the motorway being closed for six hours. hundreds of burton albion supporters tweeted their frustration. very few were able to reach the etihad stadium for their side's cup tie against manchester city. the m6 reopened late last night. the police say those discovered in the lorry were given medical checks and are being seen by immigration officials, while 42—year—old lorry driver has been arrested on of trafficking. coming up at 6:00am on breakfast: charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. they will have all the day's news, business and sport. stay with us on bbc news. plenty more to come. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: heavy snowfall and strong winds have led to the deaths of more than 1a people across europe.

there are avalanche alerts for parts of austria and the alps. 0pposition leader felix tshisekedi has been declared the winner in the democratic republic of congo's tightly contested presidential election. mike pompeo is in the middle east. he is expected to deliver a speech in cairo later today. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the guardian which refers to theresa may's increasingly "boxed in" position after losing a second parliamentary vote this week. she must now provide a plan b within 3 days should her deal be voted down on tuesday. 0n the front page of the japan times is an article onjapan‘s stake in brexit. prime minister shinzo abe meets with mrs may today and is expected to publically support her efforts but also to urge her to do everything she can to prevent no—deal brexit, which could seriously

disrupt foreign investment. next we have the washington post, which highlights the many ways in which ordinary americans are already being affected by the government shutdown and how their situations will deteriorate further if no resolution is found. the wall streetjournal has its take on the impending divorce of amazon chiefjeff bezos and the possible implications it could have on his stake in the online retail giant. and finally, this story on the bbc website, insect protein for your pooch?