"Jaguar Land Rover eyes new factory in Poland"

[dutchman]

Coventry-based Jaguar Land Rover could be close to unveiling plans for a new Eastern European factory.



Poland and Slovakia are being touted as likely locations as speculation mounts that JLR is planning an announcement in autumn.

In his latest column for the Telegraph’s sister title the Birmingham Post column, Professor David Bailey, who sits on the Coventry Telegraph’s Business Awards judging panel, said: “Earlier this year, JLR dropped some heavy hints that the firm was looking at investing in the region (Eastern and Central Europe) as well as the United States.

“Since then, JLR has been thought to be exploring sites in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. That has now been narrowed down to Poland and Slovakia, it seems.”

Professor Bailey said although he did not name JLR, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechocinski revealed an investment by a ‘premium auto firm’ could be worth as much as £1.2 billion and that a factory could produce up to 350,000 units a year and be up-and-running by the end of 2019.

If Poland were chosen, Mr Bailey said it was likely the new plant could be located in Jawor, around 40 miles west of Wroclaw.

According to the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, JLR representatives have visited the site several times, including a visit earlier this month.

“Poland and Slovakia will slug it out offering whatever incentives they can under EU State Aid rules,” Professor Bailey said.

“Poland has an advantage in that industrial labour costs in Poland average under €8.5 an hour, against over €10 in Slovakia. That could help sway the decision the way of Poland.”

A spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover said: “Jaguar Land Rover continues to evaluate opportunities around the world.

“Europe is just one of the places under consideration. No decisions have been taken.”

[rebbonk]

Despite the tales of good coming out of JLR, the company is far too heavily dependent on the Chinese market. The Chinese are now facing problems, hence things aren't looking too good for those exporting to them. One report I read yesterday suggested that if the Chinese market continues to contract, Tata (and JLR) stand to be taken down.

With this in mind, I suspect that JLR are attempting to seek out lower cost manufacturing bases, and if push comes to shove, they will sacrifice UK manufacturing.

[rebbonk]

Coventry University are also reliant on China as well.

I just hope they aren't over reliant because if (when) it all comes tumbling down, it'll take half the city with it.

I think that Coventry is too heavily dependent on the University. The city really needs to attract a wider spread of money generators.

[dutchman]

Car giant Jaguar Land Rover is set to open a new European factory in Slovakia.

The Coventry- based firm has signed a letter of intent with the government of the Slovak Republic over a new factory in Nitra.

The aim is to have it fully operational by 2018.

JLR said the UK remained “the cornerstone” of its business and this was part of plans to become more globally competitive.

The move, which follows a period of intense speculation, is part of a strategy to expand its manufacturing operations into new international locations in the future and comes after similar agreements in China and Brazil.

Dr Ralf Speth, chief executive at Jaguar Land Rover, said with its established premium automotive industry, Slovakia is an attractive possible development opportunity.

He said: “The expansion of our business globally is essential to support its long-term, resilient growth. As well as creating additional capacity, it allows us to invest in the development of more new vehicles and technologies, which supports jobs in the UK.

“With its established premium automotive industry, Slovakia is an attractive potential development opportunity for us. The new factory will complement our existing facilities in the UK, China, India and the one under construction in Brazil.”

Robert Fico, prime minister of Slovakia, said: “We are committed to developing Slovakia’s premium automotive industry and, should we be successful, this investment would represent a significant step forward in achieving this.’’

LR opened a new joint venture in China and started construction of its local manufacturing plant in Brazil at the end of 2014.

The locations have largely been picked for the growth potential of the nearby car markets.

Commenting after Jaguar Land Rover signed a Letter of Intent for a potential new plant in Slovakia, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership chairman Jonathan Browning said: “This decision underlines Jaguar Land Rover’s phenomenal growth in global markets and it is only natural they want to balance their operations across those markets.

“The company is constantly looking to expand in different markets throughout the world and this is more positive news from a globally successful company."

[dutchman]

Jaguar Land Rover opens factory in Brazil



Jaguar Land Rover has continued its global expansion drive with the official opening of a new factory in Brazil.

The new plant in Itatiaia, in Rio de Janeiro state, will build the Coventry carmaker’s two most popular vehicles in South America’s largest country - the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The £240million plant is the first factory opened by a UK car maker in Latin America.

It currently employs 300 people and is set to produce 24,000 vehicles a year.

It is also JLR’s first wholly-owned overseas facility following in the wake of its Chinese joint venture factory which opened in 2014.

At the official opening of the new plant, Wolfgang Stadler, executive director for manufacturing, said: “The opening of Jaguar Land Rover’s new world-class facility in Brazil marks the latest exciting milestone in our global expansion.

“Land Rover is already Brazil’s market-leader for mid-sized premium SUVs, accounting for more than 30 per cent of all sales in that segment.

“The Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport will now be manufactured for the first time in Latin America, building on their existing popularity with customers in Brazil.”

Mr Stadler added: “We are proud of the strong links that we have established with the communities close to our existing plants and the same is true here in Brazil.

JLR is also supporting Brazilian supply chain companies, sourcing components such as the seats, cockpit, exhaust, chassis and powertrain assembly from local suppliers including Benteler and IAC.

The carmaker has had a presence in the Brazilian market for more than 25 years and in the first five months of 2016 it saw its sales rise by 11 per cent .

Land Rover is currently the leading premium SUV brand in Brazil, while Jaguar is poised to see its sales accelerate after seeing a 70 per cent increase in the first five months of 2016.

[dutchman]

Grant for Jaguar Land Rover's Slovakian factory to be investigated



The European Commission has launched an investigation into plans by the Slovakian government to grant £108 million to Jaguar Land Rover in support of its new car factory in the country.

The investigation will assess whether the grant to the Coventry car maker is in line with EU rules on regional state aid.

In December 2015 Jaguar Land Rover announced it would be the first British car maker to open a factory in Slovakia, after reaching an agreement with the government of the Slovak Republic.

The new £1 billion plant in Nitra, western Slovakia, is currently under construction and will eventually employ around 2,800 people. The first vehicles are expected to come off the production line in late 2018.

The factory will have an initial capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year and will produce the new Land Rover Discovery.

The area is eligible for regional aid under EU state aid rules and in May 2016, Slovakia told the Commission it planned to grant £108 million of public support for the factory, the maximum aid that can be granted for such a project.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy, said: “It is a good thing if public investment fosters economic growth in member states.

“However, we need to avoid harmful subsidy races between member states.

“The Commission will carefully investigate if Slovakia’s planned support is really necessary for Jaguar Land Rover to locate its investment in Nitra and is kept to the minimum needed, if it distorts competition or harms cohesion in the EU.”

It will investigate whether Jaguar Land Rover’s investment decision was triggered by considerations other than the public subsidy.

Slovakia claims that without the aid the investment would have taken place outside the European Union, in Mexico. The Commission will also investigate other elements of the agreement.

These include the Slovakian government transferring land for the new factory to Jaguar Land Rover and exemption from a fee payable for converting agricultural land into industrial land.

[dutchman]

Jaguar Land Rover to move Discovery production to Slovakia



Jaguar Land Rover has revealed it is to move production of its Discovery model from Solihull to Slovakia.

The Coventry car maker will also reconfigure the Lode Lane plant in Solihull to make it a centre of electric vehicle production.

News of the huge production overhaul was revealed by a source within or close to the company and announced by Bloomberg this afternoon.

Since then Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed to CoventryLive that the move will go ahead.

The car maker also said that as a result the jobs of some agency staff would go.

A Jaguar Land Rover spokesman told CoventryLive: “The decision to move the Land Rover Discovery to Slovakia and the potential losses of some agency employed staff in the UK is a tough one but forms part of our long-term manufacturing strategy as we transform our business globally.”

It is believed Discovery production will be moved from the beginning of 2019.

The beginning of the end!

[rebbonk]

The beginning of the end!

I suspect we'll see the slow decline that has happened before. JLR hasn't learned from the mistakes of the BL days.

[dutchman]

JLR shifting Discovery to Slovakia is 'deeply concerning'



A Solihull MP says Jaguar Land Rover's decision to shift Discovery production to Slovakia is "deeply concerning" - but the carmaker's Solihull plant has a bright future.

Caroline Spelman, Conservative MP for Meriden , said she was in talks with JLR bosses and hoped to limit the risk to local jobs.

Dame Caroline said: "The impact of this decision and the potential of any job losses is, of course, deeply concerning.

"In response to this news, I have already established a dialogue with Jaguar Land Rover and will be working with them to limit the risk to local jobs and ensure a successful transition.

"Nevertheless, it is reassuring that the Jaguar LandRover plant in Solihull will benefit from significant investment and a technology upgrade, making it fit for the future and to accommodate for the next generation of flagship and electric vehicles.

"Furthermore, that JLR have committed to making the Range Rover models; including one of their best sellers - the Evoque - in the UK."

Yes, and we all know how much a "commitment" from a multi-national conglomerate is worth!

[dutchman]

Land Rover Defender: Does it matter if it's built abroad?

It has been suggested Coventry car maker Land Rover might make its all-new Defender model in Slovakia rather than its spiritual home of Solihull.

Speculation comes in the wake of a recent announcement that Land Rover will be shifting production of its latest Discovery model from Lode Lane to Nitra, its new factory in Slovakia.

Even that caught some people by surprise.

Though it was always anticipated that the Discovery would be built in Nitra, there was an expectation the model would be built in two plants - home and abroad.

Should the move come as a surprise? In truth probably not.

The Nitra facility is huge and has an initial capacity to produce around 150,000 vehicles a year, with the potential to double that to 300,000 in the long-term.

But why make the Defender there too?

Although Land Rover has not yet said so, it is highly likely the Discovery and forthcoming Defender share the same platform.

If so then making both models in the same place makes perfect sense.

The Solihull factory currently makes both the Jaguar F-Pace and Range Rover Velar and they are based on the same platform.

Put simply it is a far more efficient way to go about manufacturing.