Booming Jaguar Land Rover announces another 1,700 new jobs
Another 1,700 jobs will be created by Jaguar Land Rover in the West Midlands, it was announced today as it unveiled a £1.5 billion plan for the first new car to be fitted with engines made in Wolverhampton.
The staff are to be recruited at JLR's Solihull factory to build the long-awaited 'baby' Jag, designed to compete with BMW's best-selling 3-series luxury saloon.
The new saloon car will go sale in 2015. And thousands more workers will be needed at Jaguar Land Rover's component supplier companies to meet the needs of the fast-growing luxury car-maker.
JLR has recruited 6,000 workers in the region over the last two years as it produced new Jaguars and Land Rovers and it is estimated another 24,000 jobs have been created in its supply chain.
The latest motor will be based on the eye-catching C-X17 concept car unveiled overnight at the world's biggest car show, in Frankfurt.
This has been designed as Jaguar's first-ever SUV crossover, built on an aluminium floor plan that will form the basis of the new Jaguar saloon car, set to be powered by four-cylinder engines made at the factory currently under construction on the i54 site on the border of Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire.
The design of the new saloon is still being kept tightly under wraps but it will include models powered by the same V6 petrol engine fitted in the F-Type sports car, offering speeds of up to 186mph and emissions below 100g of CO2 per kilometre.
Jaguar Land Rover says the 'aluminium architecture' of its new range of cars will make them more accessible to car buyers – the new sports saloon will be priced just below the current XF, which starts from just over £29,000. The new car is due to be on sale by 2015.
JLR chief executive 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."
