Jaguar Land Rover owner, Tata, announced it will raise global investment in manufacturing to £1.5 billion to support new product launches.
According to senior Tata spokespersons, the decision to double investment in JLRs global manufacturing capability and the acceleration of product launches has been spurred by booming demand in China.
To boost production in this demand locality Tata has now selected a partner for joint venture manufacturing. Chinese statements in December 2011 indicate that the selected partner is Chery Automobile.
The launch of Chinese manufacturing operations will complement JLRs growing global manufacturing footprint. The firm already manufacturers some Land Rover models in India.
Tata leaders have also said that UK production will increase thanks to the rise in investment.
Such production expectations build on recent announcements from JLR that it will expand its Halewood factory and build a new engine plant in Wolverhampton leading to the creation of thousands of jobs across the UK.
It is expected that expansion of UK production will include manufacture of JLR’s new ‘baby’ saloon car, due to be launched in the next three years.
Speaking in India, Tata’s chief financial officer Mr CR Ramakrishnan said: “Over the past five to six years, Jaguar Land Rover has spent around £700million to £800million annually on capital expenditure and product development. Going forward, we will double
that.”
