First Evoque rolls off Halewood production line
JAGUAR Land Rover has taken more than 18,000 orders for its new Range Rover Evoque model, the company’s CEO Dr Ralf Speth revealed at its Halewood plant yesterday.
Dr Speth and the remainder of the Jaguar Land Rover board were at Halewood yesterday to celebrate the first car rolling off the production line.
Plant manager Richard Else described it as “a huge day for Halewood”, stating that the workforce had hit its target of delivering the first models by its July 4 deadline.
“I want to thank all of the Halewood team for their achievements so far,” said Else.
“The car is fantastic. It’s very much a Range Rover, but it’s the most fuel-efficient ever produced and we’re hopefully going to appeal to a new segment in the marketplace.
“We really hope it will attract new people to the Land Rover and Range Rover name and that will be a great success story as we get up to full capacity in the summer.
Dr Speth said the Range Rover Evoque was important for UK manufacturing, given that the vehicle will be exported from Halewood to an estimated 170 countries. Moreover, 50% of the car’s components are made in the UK, adding a further £2bn of value into the supply chain.
“The Evoque is just the start,” he added. “We do have the most ambitious programme for both Jaguar and Land Rover ahead of us. We do a lot of training, coaching and we will do whatever it takes to deliver more exciting products.
Tata Motors chairman Dr Ravi Kant thanked the Halewood workers and also praised both the design and ingenuity of the Evoque product.
He said: “We have very, very high hopes for this beautiful product as it goes onto the market. We have full confidence in the Halewood plant to live up to its reputation of creating faultless quality products vehicle after vehicle.”
