A bitter pay dispute could force owner Tata to shift investment overseas, according to the man who helped broker the Indian firm's £1.2 billion takeover.
Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, who was instrumental in persuading Tata to buy the company in 2008, said the unions' approach over current pay negotiations smacked of the "bad old days" of industrial relations.
His comments follow the rejection of a three-year pay and conditions offer which would represent a 14 per cent pay rise, amid union
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The Midland-based peer warned that a range of countries, from the United States to Hungary, Poland and Middle East states, were making "substantial and very tempting offers" to JLR to invest abroad.
And he said the Tata takeover with its commitment to vital research and development work had saved the 海角视频 automotive industry from "complete destruction".
Post columnist Lord Bhattacharyya, who chairs Warwick Manufacturing Group, said: "JLR has made what appears to be a generous offer. Yet in return they find themselves embroiled in negotiations by newspaper and public opinion.
"The unions should not be airing their grievances in public. It has been suggested that JLR is making money hand over fist. Yet the investment required to take the company forward is massive. The unions need to understand that.
"And they should also understand that, though Tata does not believe in short-termism, if it finds that JLR's cost base has become too high here then it will have no hesitation in putting future investment abroad."
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Around 96 per cent of JLR staff have voted against a proposed three-year pay deal, worth around 14 per cent, raising the prospect of potential industrial action.
Further meetings are now planned in a bid to break the deadlock. Unite union said the deal "fell short of expectations" and "failed to recognise the workforce's contribution to last year's profits of £2.5 billion."
However, Lord Bhattacharyya said in automotive terms JLR is still a "small company", making around 400,000 cars a year when its competitors Audi and Mercedes are four or five times the size.
And he said global economic conditions were a cause for concern for JLR, which has principally seen its soaring sales come from China and emerging economies.
He added: "The world situation is going through dynamic change. The Chinese economy is on a downward trend and all over currencies and markets are volatile. The automotive sector is facing challenges – the development of electric cars and hybrids while at the same time coping with new regulations. Future technologies are such that a huge amount of R&D is needed.
"But for Tata there wouldn't be an R&D driven 海角视频 car industry left. But we got them here and it effectively saved the auto industry in this country from complete destruction.
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"In this context the recent problems associated with pay are very alarming. And this is all being paraded across the newspapers with the chief executive being blamed.
"What we are seeing is a glimpse of what used to happen in the past. Do we really want to go back to the past? Tata is very patient, it wants to see Jaguar Land Rover succeed, but it is an international company.
"Many countries want JLR to invest there – the United States, Hungary, Poland and the Middle East. These countries are making substantial and very tempting offers for JLR to do so.
"Wage costs are substantially lower and there is a lot of investment help. It is a global marketplace."
Lord Bhattacharyya said Tata had transformed the prospects for JLR staff in the West Midlands as the Castle Bromwich factory was "destined to be closed" before the takeover.
Thousands more jobs in the region have since been created and many more apprentices, he said.
He added: "The renaissance of manufacturing, especially in the automotive sector, can be attributed to JLR. The benefit has been felt across the supply chain.
"But suddenly there is a perception that the unions have gone back to their old ways – and let us not forget their part in the long well-documented decline of automotive. Do we want the world to think the days of irresponsibility have returned? That will not help inward investment into the 海角视频."
Unite national officer Roger Maddison told the Post earlier this month: "The company is making a fortune and to try and attack people's pensions is not something they tried when they were losing cash. It is no secret that they want to make savings of £240 million on their pensions deficit.
"I think that they have tried it on and it fell flat. We do not want to have a dispute but we want a good fair pay deal. We do not want to take action but to protect our pensions and increase our standard of living, we are fully prepared to take action.
"There are people who have worked for 30 years in a car factory, have paid into the pension scheme and they should be able to rely on that pension to fund their retirements."