Jaguar Land Rover opens Brazilian manufacturing plant

JLR's £240m manufacturing facility will be its first wholly-owned plant outside of the UK

Jaguar Land Rover has opened its first wholly-owned manufacturing plant outside of the UK in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The new £240m manufacturing facility will build Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport – the most popular JLR vehicles in Brazil, which will be on sale in the country in June. 

The plant inauguration represents the first time a UK automotive group has opened a production centre in Latin America.

Wolfgang Stadler, executive director of manufacturing, said: “Land Rover is already Brazil’s market-leader for mid-sized premium SUVs, accounting for more than 30% of all sales in that segment. The Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport will now be manufactured for the first time in Latin America, building on their existing popularity with customers in Brazil.”

The plant includes Jaguar Land Rover’s first overseas Education Business Partnership Centre which will provide a range of classroom activities for up to 12,000 local children each year.

Stadler added: “We are proud of the strong links that we have established with the communities close to our existing plants and the same is true here in Brazil. Our Education Business Partnership Centre is just one step we are taking to deliver exciting educational programmes to local children of all ages. Our ambition is to encourage them to consider a career in the automotive industry in the future.”