Jaguar Land Rover reveals plans for new engineering centre

Jaguar Land Rover has revealed plans to open technical engineering office in Hungary which will open early next year.

The Coventry car maker said engineers in Budapest will work alongside Jaguar Land Rover’s supply chain located in Europe to support the launch of vehicles into the company’s global manufacturing locations.

Nick Rogers, executive director of product engineering, said: “Hungary has a strong track record in automotive engineering. We have chosen it as the location for a new engineering office to enable close collaboration with our suppliers located in central and Eastern Europe. The team in Budapest will complement the suppliers and supplier technical assistance that we already partner with in the region, as well as our teams in the UK.”

The office in Budapest, which will create 100 jobs, joins JLR’s engineering network in the UK, Republic of Ireland, China and North America.

The news comes a week after JLR announced the opening of a £1bn plant in Slovakia, and just days after the company announced a £2.5bn turnaround plan to slash costs and planned investment after slipping into the red.

JLR, which employs around 40,000 workers in the UK, posted a £90m loss for the three months to September as car sales fell sharply.

It said it has launched “far-reaching programmes” to deliver cost and cashflow improvements.

Last week, JLR said that total profit, cost, and cashflow improvements of £2.5bn over the next 18 months are being targeted, with plans to reduce spending by about £500m to £4bn per year this financial year and next.

JLR announced 1,000 job losses at its Solihull factory in April and moved around 2,000 staff to a three-day week at its Castle Bromwich plant in September.