UK: JLR invests £ 600 million in upgradation of plant and R&D

British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, has announced an investment of £ 600 million to support R&D and manufacturing operations in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom. The investment will be made across three sites - Castle Bromwich Advanced Manufacturing Plant, Whitley Advanced Design and Development Centre and the National Automotive Innovation Centre.

The largest chunk of the investment will be made at the company's Castle Bromwich facility. More than £ 400 million has been invested here out of to support the introduction of the 2016 Jaguar XF sedan, which was unveiled earlier this week. £ 320 million has been used to set up a 74,500 square metre aluminium body shop. This is the largest single investment in the history of the Castle Bromwich site. £ 16 million has been spent on a new blanker line, which will allow the plant to turn coils of aluminium into 'blank sheets' that will be pressed into body panels and parts on a new Aida press line. The £ 50 million press line is currently under construction. This line will feed in to the new body shop, which is capable of switching between Jaguar's entire range of models mid-production. Finally £ 30 million has been invested in upgrading the trim and final assembly hall.

Jaguar Land Rover has also confirmed that it will double the operational footprint of its Advanced Design and Engineering Centre in Whitley, Coventry. The company is also investing £ 150 million in the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC) which will open in Spring 2017.