JLR invests in £320m aluminium bodyshop
Jaguar Land Rover has today reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the West Midlands, with confirmation of a £600m investment in the region to support product creation and advanced vehicle manufacturing.
The largest single investment has been made at the company’s Castle Bromwich plant, where over £400m has been spent in new and upgraded facilities to support the introduction of the all-new Jaguar XF.
Amongst the most notable investments at the Castle Bromwich site, in support of the all-new XF, is a £320m state-of-the art aluminium bodyshop which completes the site’s transformation into a global centre of excellence for lightweight vehicle manufacturing. This is the largest single investment in the history of the Castle Bromwich site and highlights a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of the company’s West Midlands manufacturing operations which were earmarked for consolidation during the height of the global economic downturn.
The introduction of the all-new XF completes an all-aluminium line-up at the Midlands plant which has committed significant investment to every stage of the manufacturing process. £16m has been spent on a new blanker line which will allow the plant to turn coils of aluminium into ‘blank sheets’ that will be pressed into body panels and parts on a new Aida £50m press line which is currently under construction. This line will feed in to the new £320m bodyshop, the most flexible and versatile of its kind throughout Jaguar Land Rover, capable of switching between Jaguar’s entire range of models mid-production. Finally £30m has been invested in significantly upgrading the trim and final assembly hall.
Jaguar Land Rover CEO Dr. Ralf Speth said, ‘Jaguar Land Rover continues to demonstrate its unwavering support to the British automotive industry through sustained investments in advanced research, technology and innovation.
‘This investment, made here in the heartland of our UK business operations, signals the confidence we have in this region to support the creation, engineering and manufacturing of ultra-low emission, premium British products, today and in the future.’
