Jaguar Land Rover To Build Cars In Austria

Jaguar Land Rover has insisted the UK remains the "centre" of its operations after expanding its overseas manufacturing capabilities - this time in Europe.

The luxury car-maker confirmed it had signed a contract to build an unspecified number of vehicles in the Austrian city of Graz.

It refused to say which models would be built there under the outsourcing deal.

The manufacturing partnership with Magna Stevr signalled a further expansion away from its UK manufacturing base, which Jaguar Land Rover said was operating at close to capacity.

It has three major factories in the UK - at Solihull, Halewood and Castle Bromwich - but last year opened its first overseas manufacturing plant in China and is building a factory in Brazil.

There are assembly lines in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Kenya and Malaysia.

The company insisted that the outsourcing of work to Austria did not mean it was less committed to the UK but reflected its manufacturing ambition following record sales in its last financial year.

Chief executive Dr Ralf Speth said: "The UK remains at the centre of our design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities.

"Partnerships such as this will complement our UK operations and engineering", he said.

Jaguar Land Rover said it would spend around £3.6bn on new vehicles and capital expenditure in 2015-16 as it expands its range.