Do they play rugby in Slovakia?
Jaguar Land Rover has signed a Letter of Intent with the Slovak Republic for the development of a new manufacturing plant in the city of Nitra in western Slovakia.
Union officials in the UK – JLR is the UK’s largest manufacturing business – immediately called for a guarantee of jobs with wages that are more than twice the £7 average Slovak Republic. Slovakia has plants from German Volkswagen, South Korean Kia and France’s PSA Peugeot Citroën.
The Slovak Republic has a strong supply chain with a logistics infrastructure JLR said. With a good outcome of the feasibility study, a final decision is expected later this year. *JLR has existing facilities in the UK, China, India and the one under construction in Brazil.
The Pune Manufacturing plant in India opened in 2011 after the TATA purchase in 2008.
In a statement, the Indian owned company bought by Tata in 2008 said, “The UK is the cornerstone of Jaguar Land Rover’s business. It remains at the center of Jaguar Land Rover’s design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Over the past five years, Jaguar Land Rover has employed more than 20,000 people taking its workforce to more than 36,000 and invested more than £11 billion in new product creation and capital expenditure.
In 2014, Jaguar Land Rover sold 462,678 vehicles, up 9%. Of that, Jaguar sold 81,570 vehicles and Land Rover sold 381,108 vehicles.
The feasibility study underway with the Slovakian Government will explore plans for a factory with an installed capacity of up to 300,000 vehicles over the next decade. As part of Jaguar Land Rover’s plan to deliver more lightweight-vehicles, the plant would manufacture a range of aluminum Jaguar Land Rover vehicles.
It is anticipated that the first cars – it would be ideal for the new Land Rover Defender due then – will come off the production line in 2018.
*Jaguar Land Rover has two overseas manufacturing facilities and a local assembly presence in India:
• Chery Jaguar Land Rover, its joint venture in China, produces the Range Rover Evoque and the Discovery Sport. It employs more than 2,500 people.
• Brazil will be the company’s first wholly owned overseas manufacturing plant. It will be operational in early 2016 and will produce the Discovery Sport. It will employ circa 400 people.
• Jaguar Land Rover has had a local assembly presence in India since 2011 and currently assembles the Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar XF and XJ.
• Jaguar Land Rover has signed a contract manufacturing agreement with Magna Steyr in Austria.
