Jaguar Land Rover suppliers set to benefit from orders worth £2.8bn
AUTOMOTIVE suppliers to Jaguar Land Rover are to benefit from new contracts worth £2.8bn, the company has confirmed.
The orders are to supply the new Jaguar F-Type sports car, the first cars of which left the company’s Castle Bromwich factory yesterday.
The contracts are being spread globally but more than half – £1.5bn worth – have been consigned to UK-based firms.
Contracts have so far been awarded to more than 270 companies internationally following the completion of a global competitive tendering exercise on component sourcing for the vehicle. Of these, 116 are based in the UK and 50% are from the Midlands.
JLR said it has created almost 9,000 new jobs in the UK over the last two years, including 2,000 new engineers and 350 to directly support the new sports car. The contracts awarded to support the F-Type are expected to create thousands more new skilled jobs across the UK’s automotive supply chain.
Ian Harnett, Jaguar Land Rover’s Purchasing Director said, “As one of the leading investors in automotive research and development in the UK, Jaguar Land Rover generates several billion pounds of economic activity here every year. As today’s announcement demonstrates we are working with world-class suppliers to strengthen the UK automotive supply base and support our ambitious plans for growth in the future.”
Destined for customers around the world, the new F-Type vehicles were loaded onto a train at the company’s onsite rail facility at Castle Bromwich yesterday.
With sales in over 170 countries, JLR generates export revenues approaching £11bn annually, making it one of the UK’s largest exporters by value. It anticipates that it will export over 75% of Jaguar F-Types produced. The USA is expected to be the largest market with almost half of all sales, closely followed by the UK and Germany.
Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar’s Global Brand Director said, “Since we unveiled the car last year, the level of customer interest in the F-Type has been unprecedented. It is a very proud moment for us to see some of the very first customer cars leave our Castle Bromwich facility.”
The Jaguar F-Type has been designed, engineered and manufactured in the West Midlands.
Last month, almost 450 potential customers were given an exclusive insight into the new car and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Castle Bromwich factory. JLR has invested significantly in its Castle Bromwich manufacturing facility to create the fastest and most advanced Jaguar sports car production line for the F-Type.
F-Type production has been incorporated into the manufacturing operation at Castle Bromwich to maximise capacity, technology and skills at the plant. JLR has utilised and enhanced the manufacturing techniques and technologies employed for the Jaguar XK production, while introducing new equipment and processes specifically required for the F-Type.
The all-aluminium construction of the car is carried out in Castle Bromwich’s 14,000m² body shop which employs manufacturing techniques adapted from the aerospace industry.
