[Updated November 27th] Following the opening of its Engine Manufacturing Centre (EMC) in the UK last November, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has this week announced plans to double the size of the facility as part of a £450m ($677.5m) expansion programme. It will see the site increase its operational footprint to 200,000 sq.m with a total investment now reaching £1bn. The carmaker said that ramp up in investment made the facility “the most significant new automotive manufacturing facility to be built in the UK in the last decade”.
The EMC is home to the low emission Ingenium engine, JLR’s first venture into in-house engine manufacturing in a generation. The facility has moved from prototype production to full-scale manufacturing in just 12 months with more than 50,000 engines coming off the production line so far.
The doubling in size of the EMC means a significant increase in the handling of materials for JLR’s logistics partners. JLR has a contract with Syncreon for the inplant logistics at the facility and DHL Supply Chain is handling inbound shipments. They are handling material from 71 suppliers to the plant, 30% of which are based in the UK. Each engine derivative will include around 245 parts.
“We support the continued growth of the automotive industry in the UK and Jaguar Land Rover's expansion is good news for the national economy,” said Martin Dougherty, vice-president, Business Development, Automotive, DHL Supply Chain. “It will generate many employment opportunities in the region and will have a positive knock on effect for its logistics providers.”
The expansion at the EMC will lead to the creation of several hundred new jobs according to JLR.
"The Engine Manufacturing Centre is a strategically significant facility for Jaguar Land Rover,” said the carmaker’s CEO, Ralf Speth. “The decision to expand our operations at the site provides a clear signal of our commitment to meeting customer demand for cleaner and more efficient engines, whilst developing the skills and capability that Britain needs if it is to remain globally competitive."
The Ingenium engine was first included in the Jaguar XE in April this year and subsequently fitted in the Discovery Sport. It is now being supplied to all three vehicle plants in the UK, including to power the Range Rover Evoque, all-new Jaguar XF and the soon to be launched Jaguar F-Pace.
The carmaker reported its best ever October sales last month, hitting 41,550 vehicles, with year-to-date figures for 2015 also up on the same period in 2014 at 390,965 vehicles sold.
