New automobile sales may be down in the Western world but in Asia they are skyrocketing. Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to build an engine plant which will cost approximately £400 million in the West Midlands. After falling sales in recent years, Jaguar is once again on the rise and this latest deal is hope for the company’s future as well as 2,000 workers who will end up with a job as a result of this new factory.
Although financial support will be needed from government to bring this deal to reality, there is little doubt that it will be met with anything less than optimism as government works towards boosting the economy through the manufacturing sector. In fact, the car industry was identified as integral to recovery efforts and government therefore previously offered £10 million in support for the plant. At this time it is not revealed how this aid will be given.
According to latest news, the new Jaguar Land Rover engine plant will be located in Wolverhampton, a designated enterprise zone. It is estimated that it will take at least two years to build and will at some point employ up to 2,000 people. This is per a source who is said to have an inside line to the negotiators. In recent years Jaguar has had a reversal of fortunes as there has been an increase in demand for their vehicles in such emerging markets as Russia and China.
To date this year, Jaguar reports £1.1 billion in profits before tax through March which was up from £14.6 million in 2010. They saw an increase in revenues of 51% which is evidenced by the fact that they have already increased their workers by 3,000 this year alone which brings the total of their employees in the UK to just under 21,000. Adding another 2,000 workers is good news indeed.
