Jaguar Land Rover to Invest £100m in Castle Bromwich Site
Leading vehicle manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover is set to invest £100 million into its Castle Bromwich plant. The move will see production of the XE saloon gradually shipped across from the companyâs nearby Solihull plant. It is hoped that the move will free up capacity on the XE production line at Lode Lane for the new F-Pace crossover model, which has replaced the XE as Jaguarâs fastest selling model. The move comes only 18 months after the company started producing the XE at Solihull, which it announced with a fanfare including a parade of famous models around the Lode Lane plant. The decision to switch the production of the ZE shows how flexible the firmâs manufacturing process is and also underlines the renaissance of the Castle Bromwich site, which only eight years ago was threatened with closure. JLR said that the investment, which rose to £500 million over the last two years, followed the significant customer demand for the latest two models produced by Jaguar. The company said that the move would be a gradual process and would see investment in new body shops, press lines and final assembly halls. It also marks the return of all Jaguar sports and saloon car manufacturing to the plant in Birmingham, which employs nearly 3,000 people and currently produces the F-Type, XJ and XF. Wolfgang Stadler, JLRâs Executive Director of Manufacturing, said: The significant investment to create two centres of excellence in aluminium vehicle manufacturing, utilising shared technologies, was deliberate. It gives us the flexibility to quickly respond to consumer demand for our growing range of products. Nicolas Guibert, Castle Bromwich Operations Director, said the decision would see Castle Bromwich undergo a significant increase in production volumes. In order to increase capacity, the company has been slowly collecting parcels of land around the facility.
