Jaguar Land Rover to create 800 new jobs

The West Midlands plant already employs 6,000 people producing the Range Rover Discovery and Defender models, reports The BBC.

The news came as the firm announced record sales of almost 358,000 cars in 2012, up 30% from the year before.

The carmaker, which is owned by Tata of India, said vehicle sales in China rose 70% to 71,940, overtaking the UK to become its biggest market.

Sales in the UK rose 19% to 68,333 and in the US by 11% to 55,675. The company said it was active in 177 countries in the year.

The company’s new Range Rover Evoque model came top, with over 100,000 sales in its first year. Sales of its Jaguar models rose just 6%.

The government welcomed news of the jobs in Solihull. Last week Japanese carmaker Honda said it would cut 800 jobs at its Swindon production plant.

The Chinese market – where sales of Jaguar Land Rover’s vehicles have risen 80% in the past year – has been rising in importance to the company.

JLR plans to increase its dealership network in China by a further 30% in the coming year, according to John Edwards, JLR’s global brand director, despite the “intense competition” in that market.

“I think what the Chinese consumers are after are true British brands with real integrity,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “and that’s where we have a real opportunity.”

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The workforce at Solihull are highly skilled and have made a massive contribution to the success of the company here in the UK”

Tony Burke
Unite
Jaguar Land Rover sealed a joint venture to make cars with Chinese company Chery Automobile in November.

In December, the firm also said it was considering building cars in Saudi Arabia.

If that goes ahead, it would be the company’s second overseas manufacturing plant, after it agreed to build a plant in Shanghai.

Production at the Chinese factory, expected to open in the middle of this decade, would be for the Chinese market only.

Jaguar Land Rover has taken on 8,000 people in the last two years, and now employs 25,000 people around the world.

The firm also plans to build a new engine factory in Wolverhampton.