Jaguar Land Rover confirms Eastern European expansion

VEHICLE manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover is set to develop a new production facility in Slovakia, the company confirmed today.

It has signed a Letter of Intent with the Government of the Slovak Republic for the potential development of a new manufacturing plant in the city of Nitra in western Slovakia.

JLR said the with its established premium automotive industry, Slovakia was an attractive possible development opportunity. The announcement also deflects attention away from disappointing second quarter figures, which were impacted due to the decline in the Chinese market.

The company has been known to be eyeing a facility in Eastern Europe for some time, with Poland thought to have been a leading contender.

With it approaching near saturation point in the UK and as part of its ultimate quest to one day see an annual production volume in excess of seven figures, the company has been exploring opportunities offered by European partners.

The company itself said the move marked the next step in its strategy to become a more competitive global business by expanding its manufacturing operations into new international locations in the future.

Dr Ralf Speth, Chief Executive Officer, Jaguar Land Rover, said, “The expansion of our business globally is essential to support its long-term, resilient growth. As well as creating additional capacity, it allows us to invest in the development of more new vehicles and technologies, which supports jobs in the UK.

“With its established premium automotive industry, Slovakia is an attractive potential development opportunity for us. The new factory will complement our existing facilities in the UK, China, India and the one under construction in Brazil.”

The feasibility study underway with the Slovakian Government will explore plans for a factory with an installed capacity of up to 300,000 vehicles over the next decade. As part of JLR’s commitment to deliver more lightweight vehicles, the plant would manufacture a range of aluminium vehicles. It is anticipated that the first cars will come off the production line in 2018.

Following robust analysis of a number of locations including Europe, the United States and Mexico, the company said it had settled on Slovakia as its preferred location. It is close to a strong supply chain and good logistics infrastructure. Subject to the outcome of the feasibility study, a final decision is expected later this year.

Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia said: “The Slovakian Government is delighted to be selected as Jaguar Land Rover’s preferred location for this feasibility study.

“We are committed to developing Slovakia’s premium automotive industry and, should we be successful, this investment would represent a significant step forward in achieving this. It would provide a boost to our country’s wider industrial strategy as well as benefitting the European Union as a whole.

“We look forward to working closely with Jaguar Land Rover over the coming months to progress the negotiations.”

Despite the expansion, JLR said the UK would remain the cornerstone of its business; the Britishness of its products being a strong selling point. Therefore, the UK will remain at the centre of Jaguar Land Rover’s design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities, it said.

Over the past five years, JLR has employed more than 20,000 people taking its workforce to more than 36,000 and invested more than £11bn in new product creation and capital expenditure.

During this time, the company has invested heavily in its UK vehicle manufacturing facilities at Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull to support the introduction all-new vehicles such as the Jaguar XE, Jaguar F-PACE, Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport. It has also invested more than £500m in its new Engine Manufacturing Centre near Wolverhampton, creating 1,400 new jobs.

In addition, it plans to expand its advanced engineering and design centre at Whitley and invest in the National Automotive Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick.

It said the strategy of sustained investment supported the delivery of the UK’s wider industrial strategy.

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