Jobs at flagship JLR plant will be doubled

The workforce at Jaguar Land Rover's £500 million engine factory in Wolverhampton is set to double over the coming months as it gears up for full production.

Around 300 people are currently working at the plant and JLR says that will hit 600 early next year as the site starts to churn out its new, ultra-efficient, Ingenium 2.0-litre turbo diesel engines. They will first be used to power the latest Jaguar XE saloon. When it goes on sale early next year the Ingenium diesels will be key to its success, figures suggest.

In the E-Performance model they will offer phenomenal fuel consumption of 75mpg, as well as ultra-low emissions of 99g/km. As a result, production of the new aluminium-bodied sports saloon – designed to take on the likes of BMW's top-selling 3-series – at Solihull will have to co-ordinate perfectly with the manufacturing of the engines at Wolverhampton.

Work was completed this year on the diesel engine assembly hall and, once production equipment was installed, staff have been running trials and test-runs to ensure everything works smoothly.

The next step will be to start increasing production, and recruitment, ready for next year's sales launch.

Another crucial step will be the opening of the £36.7 million link road between the i54 site, on the Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire border, and the M54.

This will enable HGVs to bring components and raw materials directly onto the site from the motorway and carry away completed engines to JLR's car plants at Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Halewood.

JLR spokeswoman Amanda Woolley said: "Of the 1,400 jobs which will be created at the engine manufacturing centre, 300 are already in-post. We are continuing to recruit at the site and expect our current headcount to double at the point the new diesel engine goes in to full production."

Meanwhile, construction work on the petrol engine assembly hall is continuing. Once complete it will make the i54 plant a 1 million square foot factory,

Eventually the XE, and the new Land Rover Discovery Sport, which replaces the Freelander next year, will both be powered by Ingenium diesel and petrol engines.

JLR says that, when it hits its peak, the factory's production lines will be churning out one engine every 36 seconds. Starting from a clean sheet meant Jaguar's powertrain engineers could make the Ingenium engines as light and efficient as possible.

Ron Lee, JLR's chief powertrain engineer, said: "The new generation of Ingenium diesel engines are wholly designed and manufactured in-house. No opportunity has been missed in ensuring their design is right on the cutting edge of technical advancement."

As well as the XE and Discovery Sport, the new Ingenium engines are also expected to be fitted in the hotly anticipated production version of the Jaguar C-X17 sports crossover revealed last year.