- Jaguar Land Rover’s Castle Bromwich plant starts production of Jaguar XE
- Move comes in response to F‑PACE and XE sales success
- £100m of fresh investment in Birmingham plant reaffirms commitment to British manufacturing
- Announcement demonstrates Jaguar Land Rover’s fully flexible West Midlands manufacturing operations
Following the huge customer demand for Jaguar’s two latest models, the F‑PACE and XE, Jaguar Land Rover today revealed that the mid‑sized premium sport sedan, the Jaguar XE, is to be built at Castle Bromwich ‑ marking the return of all Jaguar sports and saloon car manufacturing to the Birmingham plant.
The XE will gradually transfer from its current home at Solihull, demonstrating the inherent flexibility of Jaguar Land Rover’s West Midlands manufacturing operations ‑ the result of more than £1bn of infrastructure investment at Solihull and Castle Bromwich. This investment in new press lines, body shops and final assembly halls supports production of the three Jaguar models built on the company’s technically advanced aluminium architecture*.
Wolfgang Stadler, Jaguar Land Rover’s Executive Director of Manufacturing, said: “The significant investment to create two centres of excellence in aluminium vehicle manufacturing, utilising shared technologies, was deliberate. It gives us the flexibility to quickly respond to consumer demand for our growing range of products.”
The arrival of XE at Castle Bromwich continues the renaissance of the plant, which was slated for closure in 2008. The £100m investment to welcome the latest model takes the total invested in the site to more than £500m over the last two years, supporting continuous improvement in the production of XF, F‑TYPE and XJ, also built at the plant.
Nicolas Guibert, Castle Bromwich Operations Director, said: “2016 is a pivotal year for Castle Bromwich. The arrival of the XE sees us increase our model lines and volume.
“This plant has a rich heritage and is undergoing its most significant transformation in decades, with major infrastructure projects either complete or under way. The commissioning of our all‑new press line and launch of our body shop to support the introduction of XE means Castle Bromwich is future‑proof.”
In August, Jaguar sales stood at 85,726 for the year, an increase of 72% on 2015. This strong performance is driven primarily by F‑PACE, the fastest selling Jaguar of all time, and XE, which made its US market debut in the summer.
Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull plant will continue to operate three shifts, 24 hours a day, to keep up with global demand for the Jaguar F‑PACE and Range Rover Sport which are built on the same production line.
* The Jaguar F‑PACE, XE and XF are all built on the same lightweight vehicle architecture.
