Jobs boost as car firm plans new models

The news was welcomed by unions and the Government, which is now seeing a run of positive developments in the drive out of recession.

JLR’s plant in Solihull will benefit from the Indian-owned firm’s £1.5bn investment, bringing 
direct new jobs to the West Midlands as well as in service firms in other parts of the country.

The money will go towards the introduction of new technically-advanced aluminium vehicle architecture in future models.

The first new model to showcase this will be a mid-sized sports saloon car from Jaguar, to be launched in 2015.

The news is also a boost to the UK motor industry, which has been enjoying increasing sales of cars this year.

JLR chief executive Dr Ralf Speth said: “Today’s announcement signals Jaguar Land Rover’s 
ambitions to push the boundaries and redefine premium car ownership.

“At Jaguar Land Rover we place the customer at the heart of 
everything we do and the introduction of a world-class, all-new aluminium vehicle architecture means we will be more competitive, 
flexible and efficient delivering exciting new products for our customers around the world.

“Jaguar Land Rover is a business driven by design, technology and innovation and this investment and level of job creation is yet further evidence of our commitment to advancing the capability of the UK automotive sector and its supply chain.”

The 1,700 new jobs at the Solihull site will bring the total number of UK manufacturing roles announced by the firm over the last three years to almost 11,000.

Jaguar Land Rover already does business with Bradford engineering company Borg Warner, which supplies turbochargers.