The new manufacturing facility has been built in a joint venture between Jaguar Land Rover and Chery Automobile in China and will produce the Range Rover Evoque this year followed by other JLR models.
Jaguar Land Rover announced today the inaugration of its first overseas manufacturing facility located in the Changshu Economic Development Zone north of Shanghai, China. Built with an investment RMB 10.9 billion (Rs. 109 billion), the new facility spreads over 4,00,000 sq. mt. and is part of a joint venture investment plan between JLR and China based Chery Automobile Company. Starting this year onwards, the first vehicle to be produced at the new facility will be the Range Rover Evoque being the automaker’s most popular model in China while new models will be added to the plant over the next two years.
The new manufacturing facility will be producing three JLR models and will have a total production capacity of 1,30,000 units by 2016. The plant comprises of state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities including highly-automated press shops, a steel body shop comprising of 306 robots, an energy-efficient paint shop and an ergonomically-friendly final assembly line. JLR is also building a new aluminium body shop, a first in the country that will support the production of new Jaguar products like the XE sedan. The plant employs a total of 2000 personnel.
China is a very important market for all luxury manufacturers due to its vast scale of growth. Jaguar commenced operations in the country over a decade ago in the country and even sells China specific Long Wheelbase variants of some of its models. The new facility will commence producing China specific models in the future, while sales for the locally produced 2015 Range Rover Evoque are scheduled to commence early next year in the country. More details will be made available during the Guangzhou Motor Show later this year. In addition, Jaguar also stated that the company will be creating another manufacturing facility in Brazil that will help expand its global footprint.
