Jaguar Land Rover to build $1.5-bn car plant in Slovakia

UK's luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Friday announced plans to invest £1 billion ($1.5 billion) in a car plant in Slovakia, in one of the biggest ever foreign direct investments in the central European nation.

The plant will be built in the city of Nitra, western Slovakia, as per an agreement between the company and the government of the Slovak Republic, JLR said in release.

JLR will also be the first British carmaker to open a manufacturing facility in Slovakia.

The new world-class £1 billion premium manufacturing facility will eventually employ around 2,800 people, according to the company.

Friday's announcement follows Jaguar Land Rover's recent confirmation to double 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.

Ralf Speth, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, commented, "Jaguar Land Rover is delighted today to welcome Slovakia into our family. The new factory will complement our existing facilities in the UK, China, India and Brazil and marks the next step in the company's strategy to become a truly global business.

He said Slovakia has an enabling environment with an established premium automotive sector, which represents 43 per cent of the country's overall industry. It has more than 300 suppliers in close proximity and an excellent logistics infrastructure making it an ideal location.

''The heart of our company will always be in the UK, where our design, technology and manufacturing capabilities are based. It is our creativity and innovation which makes Jaguar Land Rover the leading boutique automotive brand, offering exceptional products for our customers.''

The new plant will manufacture a range of all-new aluminium Jaguar Land Rover vehicles.

JLR expects to bring the first cars off the production line in late 2018.

The factory will have an initial capacity of 150,000 vehicles and construction will commence in 2016.

Speth made the announcement after the signing of an agreement with Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia, in Bratislava.

''We are glad that Jaguar Land Rover has chosen Slovakia for its new world-class manufacturing facility. This decision shows that, with a stable and solid business environment, Slovakia is an attractive place for investors. And the marriage of Slovak craftsmanship and British engineering holds great promise,'' said the prime minister.

Jaguar Land Rover has made significant progress in building its international manufacturing presence over the last year. It opened a new joint venture in China and commenced construction of its local manufacturing plant in Brazil at the end of 2014. The creation of new international plants allows Jaguar Land Rover to offer its customers even more exciting new models, protect against currency fluctuations and create a globally competitive business.

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 XE, XF and F-PACE, Range Rover Evoque Convertible and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

In addition, it plans to expand its advanced engineering and design centre at Whitley, Coventry and invest in the National Automotive Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick.

Over the past five years, Jaguar Land Rover has employed more than 20,000 people taking its workforce to more than 37,000 and invested more than £11 billion in new product creation and capital expenditure.

Jaguar Land Rover has selected Slovakia as the location for its next manufacturing site following robust analysis of a number of locations around the world, including other European countries, United States and Mexico.