New Jaguar Plant To Create Hundreds Of Jobs

Luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to announce that it is opening a new £400m engine plant in the Midlands, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs.

It is thought it will take around two years to build the factory on the i54 business park, near Wolverhampton.

"JLR have got a terrific product range and they're expanding that product range" said Professor David Bailey from Coventry University Business School.

"Sales are going well in Europe and America but they're seeing huge growth in emerging economies like China and India and further afield so a lot of it is about exports and they need to continue that over the next few years and increase production further, hence the need for new engines.

"Rich consumers in China like British products and they like high quality British products", he said.

"They're very rugged cars, and they do well on roads in China and India which really take it out of vehicles so they kind of hit different markets, but they're products for people who are getting wealthy and want to show off their wealth, this is a way of doing it".

The site is located just off the M54 motorway, meaning engines can be easily transported to plants in the West Midlands and North West.

It is also part of an enterprise zone which offers new businesses tax breaks worth up to £275,000, simplified planning and super-fast broadband.

"There should be a range of jobs at the plant including for skilled workers but also right through to skilled automotive engineers coming out of the universities", said Professor Bailey.

"So it should be a mix of jobs and the West Midlands is very well placed in that sense, we've still got a really rich skills base and we might also get workers who've come out of MG Rover, Peugeot, Bombardier or Rolls Royce who may be looking for those jobs."

Jaguar Land Rover's fortunes have been transformed under Indian ownership.

Just two years ago they were seeking Government help to put a survival package together and the company was considering closing one of its three UK manufacturing centres.

But in the year to March 31, the firm made a record pre-tax profit of £1.1bn. Tata Motors bought JLR from Ford in 2008, but Ford still supply the engines from plants in Dagenham and Bridgend.

"I think we've seen JLR increasing output dramatically", said Professor Bailey.

"They produced about 225,000 cars last year, they're looking to increase that to 300,000 by 2015, I expect them to double that over the next five or six years so they need more engines.

"The Ford plant produces not just for Ford but also JLR, Aston Martin and Volvo, they're at full capacity as well and it's a sign of how well the car industry is doing in the UK.

"There's such a demand for engines so I have no concerns at this point about the Ford workers".

JLR has already hired 3,000 staff this year, including a record 350 graduates. They now employ almost 21,000 workers in the UK.