Jaguar Land Rover has become the largest automotive manufacturer in Britain. The news follows today’s announcement from the SMMT that UK car manufacturing has had its best year in a decade producing 1,587,677 vehicles in 2015. Jaguar Land Rover produced more than 500,000 cars and commercial vehicles at its three vehicle manufacturing plants in Solihull, Birmingham and Liverpool.
Under Tata Ownership, the company has seen a dramatic transformation in its business since 2009 when total annual production stood at 158,000 units. Since that time, Jaguar Land Rover has become the fastest growing UK automotive manufacturer with annual output rising by almost 70% thanks to more than £11bn of R&D investment to create an expanded and enhanced range from the two iconic British marques. In 2015 alone, Jaguar and Land Rover brought 11 new and refreshed cars to market, including the Jaguar XE and XF and the Land Rover Discovery Sport.
The news of Jaguar Land Rover’s achievement can also be attributed to the company’s unwavering commitment to its three British vehicle manufacturing plants which have each welcomed considerable investment to drive up capacity, capability and quality*. In addition, the company has invested £1bn in a state-of-the-art Engine Manufacturing Centre to build the high technology, low emission Ingenium engine. Together these facilities have created more than 10,000 manufacturing jobs in just 5 years, with the overall UK workforce more than doubling to 35,000.
Jaguar Land Rover, who was last week named the best place to work in Britain by Bloomberg, delivered record sales in its home market in 2015 with over 100,000 vehicles registered for the first time in its history. This strong performance was also reflected in the US, where Land Rover was named the fastest growing car brand in the country. More than 80% of Jaguar Land Rover’s UK based production is exported to over 160 markets and this year the company will see further new products including the Jaguar F-PACE and Range Rover Evoque Convertible hit its global network of retailers.
It is the increasing global demand for its products that has seen Jaguar Land Rover announce plans to expand its international manufacturing footprint to support sustainable global growth. But with plans to invest a further £3bn in its products and facilities in the 2015/16 fiscal year, such as, the expansion of its Whitley and Gaydon R&D centres, the UK remains at the very heart of Jaguar Land Rover’s business.
