Jaguar Land Rover to open manufacturing facility in Slovakia

By Lucy Dixon
Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed that it will be the first British carmaker to open a manufacturing facility in Slovakia. The announcement follows an agr...

Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed that it will be the first British carmaker to open a manufacturing facility in Slovakia. The announcement follows an agreement between the company and the government of the Slovak Republic to build a new plant in the city of Nitra, western Slovakia.

The £1 billion premium manufacturing facility will eventually employ around 2,800 people.

The news follows Jaguar Land Rover’s confirmation to double its investment in its engine plant in the UK to almost £1 billion – the largest injection into a new British manufacturing plant in decades creating several hundred new jobs.

Dr Ralf Speth, Chief Executive Officer, Jaguar Land Rover commented: "Jaguar Land Rover is delighted to welcome Slovakia into our family. The new factory will complement our existing facilities in the UK, China, India and Brazil and marks the next step in the company’s strategy to become a truly global business.

Slovakia has an established premium automotive sector, which represents 43 percent of the country’s overall industry. It has more than 300 suppliers in close proximity and an excellent logistics infrastructure; this confirmed our decision that this country was the ideal location. 

“The heart of our company will always be in the UK, where our design, technology and manufacturing capabilities are based. It is our creativity and innovation which makes Jaguar Land Rover the leading boutique automotive brand, offering exceptional products for our customers.”

As part of Jaguar Land Rover’s commitment to deliver more lightweight vehicles, the plant will manufacture a range of all-new aluminium Jaguar Land Rover vehicles. It is anticipated that the first cars will come off the production line in late 2018. The factory will have an initial capacity of 150,000 vehicles and construction will commence in 2016.

Follow @ManufacturingGL

Share

Featured Articles

Smart manufacturing can provide food packaging traceability

Jim Bresler, Director of Product Management at Plex, a Rockwell Automation company, on how smart manufacturing can provide food packaging traceability

How the Smart Out of Band solution can assist manufacturers

Last mile downtime in manufacturing requires smarter supply chain network remediation, says Alan Stewart-Brown, Vice President EMEA at Opengear

Manufacturing Digital news roundup: smart supply chains

This week in Manufacturing Digital, we looked at smart manufacturing in the automotive industry, Industry 4.0 initiatives & the supply chain

Manufacturers shouldn’t overlook remote access security

Technology

Manufacturers struggle to keep supply chains resilient - BCG

Procurement & Supply Chain

Reducing Scope 3 emissions with Jeff Dewing, Cloudfm CEO

Procurement & Supply Chain