Halewood a ‘training base’ for JLR’s Chinese factory

JAGUAR Land Rover is recruiting 1,000 people to work at its new plant in China.

Reports in The Sunday Times said 50 workers had been undergoing special training at the firm’s plant in Halewood on Merseyside and they would travel to China at the end of October where they will pass on their skills to local recruits.

The new factory in Changshu is set to become JLR’s first ever, all-new manufacturing facility outside of the UK, although it currently re-assembles kits for Freelanders and Jaguar XFs at its plant in Pune.

The new factory, a joint venture operation with Chinese manufacturer Chery, is on track to begin production late next year.

It is expected the new factory will be capable of producing around 100,000 vehicles a year although this is set to rise steeply – possibly even double – in order to meet local demand. Such volumes would put the operation on a par with the firm’s plant in Solihull.