Chinese Evoque to roll off new production line

A CHINESE version of Jaguar Land Rover’s Evoque is expected to roll off a new production line this year.

Jaguar Land Rover is ploughing £1bn into the new operation, which is being developed as a joint venture in partnership with Chery.

Based at Changshu, in the Jiangshu Province, the factory will produce vehicles specifically for the Chinese market.

The new factory is expected to begin producing around 100,000 vehicles a year although this is set to rise steeply – possibly even double.

The Evoque is made in Halewood, Merseyside, where the factory employs around 3,000 staff. The Chinese model will be called the Aurora and is likely to be followed on the production line by a Land Rover.

Jaguar Land Rover chief executive Ralph Speth said around 1,000 workers were already working at the plant – some of them trained at Halewood.