Jaguar Land Rover to create 800 Midlands jobs

Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to create 800 production jobs at its plant in Solihull.

The firm recently confirmed a £370 million investment programme for the site which includes the installation of a new aluminium body shop for the all-new Range Rover as well as upgrades to paint-applications technologies, trim assembly, warehousing and Jaguar Land Rover’s first customer handover centre.

The West Midlands plant already employs 6,000 people producing the Range Rover Discovery and Defender models.

The news was announced at the Tata-owned firm reported record sales of almost 358.000 cars in 2012.

"2012 has been a strong year for Jaguar Land Rover with record breaking sales performance globally. All of our key markets saw strong progress, with demand for our premium vehicles setting new records in a very competitive environment,” Phil Popham, Jaguar Land Rover’s Director of Group Sales Operations said. “Looking ahead to 2013, we are continuing to invest in our business to support our ambitious plans for growth and we will be introducing eight new or refreshed products throughout the year.”

Last week Honda unveiled plans to axe 800 jobs at its Swindon production plant.

Image: Getty