JLR starts production of Range Rover Evoque in UK

Tatas' owned Jaguar Land Rover today said it had started production of its sports utility vehicle Range Rover Evoque at Land Rover's Halewood facility in the UK.

"The new Range Rover Evoque passed an important milestone today when the first production vehicle was driven off the line at Land Rover's Halewood manufacturing plant in Liverpool," the company said in a statement.

The company said it had already received over 18,000 advance bookings for the vehicle from different parts of the world, it added.

"The Evoque is an incredibly exciting vehicle that joins a product range which across both of our brands is the strongest we have ever had and it fits in perfectly," Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer Ralf Speth said.

The company had doubled its workforce to more than 3,000 employees in order to deliver the Evoque, of which 75% production will be exported to over 170 countries that will add about 2 billion pound to the UK economy.

The launch of the Range Rover Evoque is just one of the 40 new product actions that JLR will carry out in the next five years. This product creation programme is supported by an annual investment of 1.5 billion pound in developing new models, engines, technologies and vehicle lines.

Currently, the company directly employs about 19,000 people in the UK and indirectly supports up to 1.4 lakh further jobs through its supply chain, dealer network and associated business operations.