Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed plans to introduce the first Jaguar vehicle to its joint venture plant in China. Developed exclusively for Chinese customers, the all-new Jaguar XF Long wheelbase (XFL) is the third vehicle to be built by the company’s joint venture, with Chery Automobile Company Ltd, in less than two years.
From the all-aluminium Jaguar XJ, F-TYPE, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport to the new aluminium intensive modular architecture that supports the Jaguar XE, XF and F-PACE, advanced lightweight technology has been a crucial element of Jaguar Land Rover’s strategy throughout its history.
Murray Dietsch, President of Chery Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Jaguar Land Rover is a world-leader in the production of aluminium vehicles and is one of the largest producers of aluminium bodies globally.”
“The arrival of the all-new Jaguar XFL brings the best of this experience and technology to Changshu. It is an important milestone for the team at Chery Jaguar Land Rover.”
The Jaguar XFL will be built in China’s first purpose-built aluminium body shop based at the state-of-the-art Chery Jaguar Land Rover manufacturing facility in Changshu. The body shop is almost 50,000m² body shop and contains a fully flexible production line including more than 300 robots.
Inaugural sales of the China-made Jaguar XFL will begin in the second half of the year and further details will be released at the Beijing Motor Show at the end of the month.
Building Jaguar Land Rover’s global footprint
Jaguar Land Rover has made significant progress in building its international manufacturing presence over the last year. Since the beginning of 2015, it has confirmed plans for a new manufacturing facility in Slovakia, started production of the Range Rover Evoque & Land Rover Discovery in China; almost completed its plant in Brazil; agreed a new manufacturing partnership with Magna Steyr in Austria and introduced three new vehicles to its local assembly facility in India.
The creation of new international plants provides additional production capacity supplementing that of Jaguar Land Rover’s three vehicle plants in the UK. It allows Jaguar Land Rover to offer its customers even more exciting new models, protect against currency fluctuations and create a globally competitive business.
