Pretoria, 14 July 2017 – Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed that the newest member of its Jaguar PACE family of SUVs, the E-PACE, will be manufactured on two continents to satisfy expected customer demand for the new compact SUV.
From late 2017, the Jaguar E-PACE will be the first vehicle to be produced as part of Jaguar Land Rover’s contract manufacturing agreement with Magna Steyr, an operating unit of Magna Inc, in Austria. It will be joined by the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE from 2018.
The Jaguar E-PACE will be also be manufactured at Chery Jaguar Land Rover’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Changshu. This will be exclusively for Chinese customers and the car will go on sale in China in 2018.
“The UK is the heart and soul of our manufacturing, design and engineering capabilities,” said Wolfgang Stadler, Executive Director Manufacturing. “However, with our UK facilities operating close to capacity, our contract manufacturing partnership with Magna Steyr and our joint venture in China provide additional volume, agility and flexibility to deliver the new Jaguar E-PACE alongside our other exciting vehicle launches this year.”
Designed and engineered in the UK, the Jaguar E-PACE is a five seat compact SUV that packs the design and performance of a Jaguar sports car into a spacious, practical and connected all-wheel drive vehicle. It joins the I-PACE Concept all-electric SUV and the World Car of the Year-winning F-PACE performance SUV. With around 80,000 vehicles sold since launch in 2017, the F-PACE is fastest selling Jaguar in the company’s history and there was a clear customer demand for a compact Jaguar SUV.
Global manufacturing strategy
The UK is the heart and soul of Jaguar Land Rover’s business and remains at the centre of the company’s design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Over the past five years, it has employed more than 22,000 people taking its workforce to more than 42,000. It has invested more than £12 billion in new product creation and capital expenditure.
During this time, the Company has invested heavily in its UK vehicle manufacturing facilities at Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull to support the introduction of all-new vehicles such as the Jaguar F-PACE, Range Rover Velar and the new Land Rover Discovery. It has doubled its investment in its engine plant in the UK to almost £1 billion – the largest injection into a new British manufacturing plant in decades creating several hundred new jobs.
Jaguar Land Rover has plans to expand its advanced engineering and design centre in Coventry and to invest in the National Automotive Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick.
With plans already in place to take Jaguar Land Rover’s three vehicle manufacturing plants in the UK close to their operating capacity, the creation of overseas manufacturing facilities delivers additional volumes needed to support the company’s future strategy. It allows Jaguar Land Rover to offer its customers even more exciting new vehicles, to protect against currency fluctuations and to build a globally competitive business.
Jaguar Land Rover confirmed plans for its first overseas manufacturing plant in 2012 when it signed a joint venture agreement with Chery Automobile Company Ltd in China. Since then, it has started production of the Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Discovery Sport and Jaguar XFL in China; opened its plant in Brazil and made significant progress with the construction of its new manufacturing plant in Slovakia.
