Widget specialist profits from Evoque
A YORKSHIRE company, famous for making widgets in Guinness beer cans, is one of 40 suppliers sharing £2bn in orders thanks to car giant Jaguar Land Rover’s investment in a new baby Range Rover, Evoque.
York-based McKechnie Plastic Components has created 80 jobs after winning a £50m contract with JLR, which has seen it invest £5m in extending and modifying its two sites at Stamford Bridge and Pickering.
Specialists from the injection mouldings company worked alongside Land Rover engineers at the company’s design centre to create and develop highly complex plastic components.
In total, nearly 50 different parts were created across many areas of the vehicle’s design including body side and wheel arch mouldings, high gloss cappings for the A, B, C and D pillars, and a range of complex ducting and aerodynamic systems.
McKechnie sales and marketing director Mike Murphy said: “The Range Rover Evoque project is a team effort and technically we have pushed the boundaries to achieve optimal design solutions that are innovative yet practical. The significant investment in latest automation technology and moulding cells will result in components made in the UK that set new benchmarks.”
The investment in The Evoque, which is being built at JLR’s Halewood factory on Merseyside, has been underpinned by a package of financial support worth £26m provided by the Government.
In the North West the Evoque will create 1,500 jobs and support a further 5,000 in the supply chain. The first cars will come off the production line in the Summer.
