Engineering news
The expansion represents the first major construction project at one of the company’s non-manufacturing sites in more than a decade, said JLR. The development is intended to become a world leading site for automotive product, engineering and design as part of the automotive firms continued plans for global growth.
Chris Elliott, property programmes director for JLR, said the new design and engineering centre will centralise its design, product engineering and purchasing functions, as well as “creating additional capacity for the future”.
A spokesperson from JLR told PE that the new campus will see the "co-location of both the Jaguar and Land Rover design teams as well as our product engineering and purchasing functions". Approximately 3,400 colleagues will be co-located within the new building.
JLR said that in recent years it has “invested heavily” in its UK vehicle manufacturing facilities at Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull to support the introduction of all-new vehicles such as the Jaguar XE, XF and F-PACE, Range Rover Evoque Convertible and Land Rover Discovery Sport.
The assistant general secretary for the union Unite, Tony Burke, said that the continued investment was a “vote of confidence” in the UK and JLR’s highly skilled workforce.
However, Burke told PE that if the UK is to maintain its position as a global leader in the auto industry then the government “must stand unflinchingly behind Britain’s car workers” in Brexit negotiations and “provide the sector with the stability that tariff free access to the single market provides”.
“Ministers must also steel a march on our competitors by supporting the industry and super charging innovation to make sure the UK is at the forefront of the electric car revolution,” Burke added.
JLR has also continued to grow its international manufacturing presence over the past year, with a new manufacturing facility under construction in Slovakia and the opening of its plant in Brazil.