JLR opens 1.4-bn euro plant in Slovakia

Tatas-owned luxury British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), facing headwinds in home market, Europe and China, Thursday announced commissioning of a 150,000-units, 1.4-billion euro manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia.

With this, JLR becomes the first British automotive company to open plant in the southeastern European nation and the third in the continent, the company said in a statement issued form Nitra.

The group investment was announced four years ago and will will produce the Land Rover Discovery to begin with.

It employs 1,500, of which 30 per cent are women. The company will add 850 more people from the second leg of hiring from next month, it said.

The plant marks the latest step in the JLR's global expansion strategy following the opening of its Chinese joint venture in 2014 and Brazilian plant in 2016, supported by contract manufacturing in India from 2011 and Austria from 2017.

JLR chief executive Ralf Speth said the plant represents the start of a new era in manufacturing for JLR as it is latest milestone in its long-term globalisation programme.

"As with our existing manufacturing facilities located in Britain, China, Brazil, India and Austria, the Slovakian plant will complement and support our corporate, R&D and engineering functions headquartered in Britain," said Speth.

The new plant has an annual capacity of 1,50,000 units and will feature a highly automated paint shop process to ensure the highest quality and minimise the environment impact, he added.

Jaguar Land Rover is the largest automotive company in Britain and the largest employer in the manufacturer sector, employing almost 40,000. It has invested over 12 billion pounds in new product creation and capital expenditure at its manufacturing facilities at Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull.