In preparation for the launch of its all-new Range Rover in 170 countries, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has invested 370 million pounds, which will go mainly, into upgrading its U.K. facilities.
In a statement, JLR said the inaugural sales of the new, fourth generation Range Rover sports utility vehicle (SUV) would begin this month.
As part of the 370 million pound investment package, the statement said, JLR had installed a new aluminium body shop for the latest Range Rover at its Solihull plant, near Birmingham, UK, along with upgrades to its paint-applications technologies, trim assembly, warehousing and customer handover centre.
Deliveries will start in early 2013. .
“As UK’s leading automotive investor in R&D, we are proud of the work that has gone into developing the new technologies and innovations to make the new Range Rover possible,” Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO, JLR said in a statement.
The arrival of the latest model followed significant investment in all-aluminium production processes at the Solihull plant, where more than 6,800 workers are employed on Range Rover and other models, the statement said.
As part of the recent expansion, JLR, the statement said, had opened a new manufacturing facility at Solihull, begun work on a 355-million pound engine factory near Wolverhampton and moved to a 24-hour production at Halewood on Merseyside to meet demand for the Range Rover Evoque. It had also created 1,100 new jobs at Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich plant, launched Land Rover assembly in India and signed a joint venture agreement with the aim of launching manufacturing in China.
