Jag Land Rover: Everything it does in the UK
JAGUAR Land Rover might be going through tough times at the moment but it continues to be a powerhouse of UK manufacturing and is still Britain’s biggest car maker.
As the company continues with a £2.5 billion cost-saving programme, part of which will see the loss of 4,500 jobs, there are some serious challenges to be faced up to.
The Coventry car maker’s current woes - it recently posted losses of £273m for the final quarter of 2018 - are down to a number of things.
Sales in China are on the slide, something which has hit the company particularly hard as it had become its biggest market.
There is also the issue of a decline in demand for diesel vehicles in Europe and uncertainty over Brexit is also a major issue.
But what does Jaguar Land Rover do in the UK and where exactly?
Its UK footprint is huge - and some of it might surprise you.
We take a look at all of the car maker’s UK operations and what happens where.
Coventry Jaguar Land Rover’s global headquarters is in Whitley.
Currently undergoing further expansion it is also the home of the car maker’s powertrain engineering operation and the home of the Jaguar design department.
The car maker’s presence in Coventry does not stop there and there are a number of partnership facilities at the University of Warwick.
One is the WMG Advanced Research Centre.
At the University of Warwick is the National Automotive Innovation Centre. This is a partnership between WMG, Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors’ European Technical Centre and the UK Government Higher Education Funding Council England.
Two key Jaguar Land Rover facilities are also close to the city.
While Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations and Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works are often referred to as being in Coventry they are actually located in Ryton-on-Dunsmore in Warwickshire.
Both are on the ProLogis Business Park, the site of the former Peugeot car factory.
Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (SV0) produces exclusive models such as the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 and is also set to produce the Range Rover Velar SV.
It has two sites, the Ryton one being the SVO manufacturing centre.
The £7million Classic Works facility, which opened in June 2017, painstakingly restores classic cars from both Jaguar and Land Rover brands and creates new versions of famous icons like the famed Lightweight E-Type.
The all-new 14,000 sq m purpose-built facility saw ten countrywide operations spanning sales, servicing and restoration - including one formerly based at Browns Lane - all housed under one roof.
The centralised operation is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world.
Traditionally the home of Land Rover, the Lode Lane plant in Solihull also produces the Jaguar F-Pace.
Once part of the Rover Car Company it sits slap
bang in the middle of Solihull suburbia and is Jaguar Land Rover’s largest manufacturing operation in the Midlands.
Models produced there also include the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Velar.
Until recently the Land Rover Discovery was built there, though production has now been moved to Slovakia.
For almost 70 years it saw the production of the original motoring icon the Land Rover, later to become the Land Rover Defender.
For many years Jaguar cars were produced at Browns Lane in Coventry but production was transferred to Castle Bromwich in Birmingham and Browns Lane eventually closed.
The factory there is located close to junction 5 of the M6.
All the models produced there are Jaguars the F-Type, XE, XF, XF Sportbrake and XJ.
Two Land Rover models are produced in Halewood, the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque.
Jaguar Land Rover recently unveiled an allnew Evoque and the car maker has invested a huge sum in a new Halewood production line which will build it.
Engine Manufacturing Centre, i54 Business Park, near Wolverhampton: Jaguar Land Rover’s engine factory currently produces four-cylinder Ingenium petrol and diesel engines to power both Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.
The company recently announced that manufacturing operations are to expand there.
A 3.0-litre six-cylinder Ingenium engine will also be produced there , which will initially power a new Range Rover Sport model - the HST.
It will also play an important part in the car maker’s electric journey.
The factory will be expanded and it will produce electric motors to power the cars of the future.
Design and engineering centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire: This is home to Jaguar Land Rover’s global engineering, research and development headquarters.
The Land Rover design department is also based there.
Located north-west of the village of Gaydon, the site houses a design, research and development centre and extensive test track facilities.
Used for the design and development of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles it occupies part of the land that was once the RAF V bomber base of RAF Gaydon.
Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) engineering HQ, Fen End, Warwickshire: The Fen End facility is home to Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations engineering department.
Planning consent was given in 2015 for the new Midland engineering facility for 300 engineering staff.
The Fen End site is the former RAF Honiley airfield, which was once used to test Land Rovers before being acquired by Prodrive as a proving ground to develop and test performance cars.
The 200-acre site, which was bought by Jaguar Land Rover in September 2014, was already home to the Jaguar Land Rover Heritage Driving experience and some of its IT operations.
It has a test track and off-roading facilities as well as a visitor centre for people taking part in events and driving days.
The site has a long motoring and military history and was home to RAF Honiley during the Second World War, with a number of squadrons using it as a base for operations.
InMotion Ventures invests in high-growth companies in the mobility, transportation and travel sector.
Described as being ‘powered by Jaguar Land Rover’ it is dedicated to backing innovations that will change the way we move.
InMotion Ventures invests globally in startups at all stages.
Alongside its core investment activity, it also collaborates with the wider Jaguar Land Rover business to develop new products and services that provide better experiences for both new and existing customers.
Battery Assembly Centre, Hams Hall, Warwickshire: At the same time as announcing it was going to cut 4,500 jobs earlier this year, Jaguar Land Rover also revealed plans for a new battery factory at Hams Hall in Warwickshire.
Currently under construction the company’s new Battery Assembly Centre will be one of the largest of its kind in the UK.
The company said it will use new production techniques and technologies to manufacture battery packs for future Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles as the company continues its journey towards electrification.