Tata set to confirm i54 for Jaguar Land Rover engine plant
JAGUAR Land Rover parent Tata Motors is expected to confirm today that it is to go ahead with plans to build a new engine plant on the i54 site, north of Wolverhampton.
The £400m plant, which could create around 2,000 new jobs, is set to take advantage of the Enterprise Zone status confirmed for the site last month.
The move had been widely expected with rumours about the move leaking out as far back as April.
It is thought i54 beat off competition from a site in South Wales, close to where the company already receives its engines from Ford, as well as in India.
Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership leaders had been confident of a decision before the end of September.
However, their pitch to the Government to secure EZ status for i54 was based solely around a new factory on the site.
They said the factory would anchor the site allowing a whole supply chain to feed into it.
In an unexpected move, the Government also granted EZ status on a smaller site at the former James Bridge Copper Works at Darlaston. The strategy is to use this site as an overspill for component suppliers not just to JLR but to the aerospace sector, which is already represented on i54 through Moog and Eurofins.
The two EZ sites are also close to an established motorway network allowing easy access, which means JLR will be able to keep stock levels to a minimum.
The plan is similar in strategy to the one adopted by BMW for its Mini production.
The i54 plant would also be within easy access of JLR’s existing plants at Castle Bromwich and Lode Lane in Solihull.
It is thought Tata has delayed making an announcement until now so as not to deflect attention away from the launch of the new Range Rover Evoque and its concept launches at the Frankfurt Motor Show last week.
The engine plant is needed to help sustain the growth of the company which despite declining sales in the UK, is proving a global success story.
Global sales of Jaguar Land Rover in August 2011 were at 21,242 vehicles, up 31% over August 2010. Jaguar sales for the month stood at 3,409, down 10% but this was compensated for by sales of Land Rover being up 43% on August 2010, at 17,833.
Cumulative sales for the fiscal year to date are 102,451, up 10% on 2010.
