£355m Jaguar investment could create 750 jobs
Car giant Jaguar Land Rover announces a multi-million pounds investment which could bring hundreds of jobs to the employment-starved Midlands.
The company will build low-emission engines in the UK, creating up to 750 jobs. The new facility will be based at a business park near Wolverhampton in the Midlands, with work due to start early next year.
“We expect the engine manufacturing facility to create up to 750 highly-skilled engineering and manufacturing posts at Jaguar Land Rover, along with hundreds more highly-skilled manufacturing jobs in the supply chain and the wider UK economy,” said Dr Ralf Speth, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover.
“This is truly exciting news and is a major commitment for our company.
“As we invest £1.5bn a year for the next five years in new product developments, expanding our engine range will help us realise the full global potential of both our Jaguar and Land Rover brands.”
Va-va-voom
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has enjoyed a dramatic turnaround in fortunes in recent years, boosted by strong demand from emerging markets such as China and Russia. The company reported pre-tax profits of £1.1bn in the year to March 31, up from £14.6m the previous year.
Revenues increased 51 per cent to £9.9bn.
Tata Motors, controlled by billionaire Ratan Tata, bought the company from Ford for £1.5bn in June 2008. But soon after the acquisition, the global car market went into reverse, pushing the company into a loss, and it said it was considering closing one of its production plants in the West Midlands in a bid to cut costs.
As the car market began to recover, the management last year performed a U-turn and said all three plants – at Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside – would stay open.
Sales boom in Asia
The company has already hired 3,000 staff this year, including a record 350 graduates, and now employs almost 21,000 people in the UK. JLR’s engines are currently supplied by Ford from plants including Bridgend and Dagenham in the UK.
However, the car maker wants to take greater control of its engine production as sales boom in Asia.
It is also considering building a plant in India. At the Frankfurt motor show, the company unveiled three new concept cars, including a new version of the Defender and an eagerly awaited two-seater Jaguar sports car.