Jaguar Land Rover will create 800 jobs for the region

Demand in China has helped to boost sales by 30 per cent as it sold 357,773 vehicles. To cope with soaring demand Jaguar Land Rover is recruiting 800 more workers at its Solihull factory, where it has already invested £370 million, as it introduces more new models this year.

The announcement provided a vital shot in the arm for an auto industry reeling from the news that Japanese car giant Honda is axing 800 jobs at its Swindon factory.

JLR said more than 200 of the new West Midlands roles would be supported by the Government's regional growth fund, which recently award the business £80m.

Jaguar Land Rover has taken on 8,000 people in the last two years, and now employs 25,000.

And it has now started recruiting the first staff to work at its new £355m engine factory, currently being built on the i54 site on the border of Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire.

The first four cylinder diesel and petrol engines are expected to roll off the production line next year for new smaller, lighter Jaguars and Land Rovers.

JLR, which is part of Indian group Tata Motors, said it saw a 70 per cent jump in sales in China last year. It has recently said it will start manufacturing vehicles in China for the first time, after agreeing a £1 billion joint-venture with Chinese car maker Chery.

It said Land Rover sales grew 36 per cent globally, with the top five markets in China, the UK, US, Russia and Italy, while Jaguar sales were up six per cent.

Unite's assistant general secretary Tony Burke said after Honda's bad news the jobs news was welcome.