Prime Minister visits Jaguar Land Rover

DAVID Cameron paid a visit to Jaguar Land Rover’s new Engine Manufacturing Centre at the weekend.

The Prime Minister was given a tour of the new plant where he saw the on-going installation of the manufacturing equipment first hand.

Based at the heart of the UK, it is ideally located between the company’s three other manufacturing sites at Halewood, Castle Bromwich and Solihull. Almost 1,400 jobs will be created by the time the plant reaches its full capacity.

Representing an investment of more than £500 million, the plant will manufacture Jaguar Land Rover’s most advanced four-cylinder engines ever, with new low-friction and light weight technologies.

The Prime Minister said, “Whenever I come to one of your plants, it makes my spirits soar when I see such an exciting future for British manufacturing. Everywhere I go in the world I support Jaguar Land Rover. This is a great British success story.”

Jaguar Land Rover’s Executive Director, Mike Wright commented, “Our world-class new facility incorporates the latest technologies meeting the highest standards of production and demonstrates our continued commitment to UK manufacturing.

“We are proud to show Prime Minister David Cameron around our plant today as our team begins to commission the equipment which will be used to manufacture our most advanced engines ever.”

The plant boasts almost 100,000 square metres of internal floor area, equivalent to the area of 14 football pitches.

It comprises of three manufacturing halls – one for machining the cylinder heads, cylinder blocks and crankshafts, one for assembling diesel engines and one for assembling petrol engines. The first engines will come off the assembly line in early 2015.

By Press Association reporter