JLR tells banks about future plans to help UK suppliers get loans

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is taking the unusual step of giving banks detailed briefings about its expansion plans to ensure its UK suppliers receive a favourable hearing when seeking loans to buy new machinery.

JLR has issued more than £2bn-worth of supply contracts for the Range Rover Evoque to more than 40 companies in the UK

The initiative, led by operations director Alan Volkaerts, will see JLR set out the car components it expects to purchase to give banks reassurance that suppliers will be able to repay loans from the additional sales.

It has also emerged that Tata Capital, the corporate and consumer finance business operated by JLR's owners Tata Sons Limited, is evaluating building a presence in the UK market and may focus on backing advanced manufacturing companies.

Mr Volkaerts is due to brief 22 bankers operating in the Midlands within a fortnight about JLR's plans for expansion at its plant in Solihull and Wolverhampton, where a £400m engine plant is to be constructed.

The event has been organised by Paul Heaven from Blue Sky Corporate Finance as part of efforts by the Birmingham Local Enterprise Partnership to improve finance for Midlands automotive suppliers.

"It is quite clear on their part what they want to achieve," said one person familiar with the bank briefing plans. "When the supplier goes into the bank and says we need to tool up, the bank and its bankers know about it.

He added: "It is something we should encourage more original equipment manufacturers [OEMs] to do. The OEMs being very clear about what their plans are will help suppliers secure finance."

JLR has issued more than £2bn-worth of supply contracts for the Range Rover Evoque to more than 40 companies in the UK. Under chief executive Ralf Speth and Tata chairman Ratan Tata, JLR is investing £1.5bn a year in new products and to drive production at its three Midland plants to 500,000 vehicles a year.

Tata Capital's plans are understood to be at an early stage but The Telegraph has learnt that its London office is in discussions with the Business Department about opportunities for its expansion into the UK.

Source: The Telegraph

Wolverhampton Jaguar Land Rover plant approved

Three councils have been involved in a bid to attract JLR to the site

Plans to build a £350m Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) facility near Wolverhampton have been given the go-ahead by South Staffordshire Council.

JLR has said it was creating up to 750 jobs at a site on the Staffordshire-Wolverhampton border.

The luxury carmaker, owned by Indian firm Tata, is investing to build low-emission engines.

The council said it was thought work to prepare the site at the i54 business park near the M54 may start in January.



JLR has said it expected the facility to create up to 750 engineering and manufacturing posts, along with hundreds more jobs in the supply chain and the wider UK economy.

Factory saved

Councillors in South Staffordshire backed the proposals on Tuesday evening after plans were submitted in October.

South Staffordshire Council said the bid to attract JLR to the i54 site was jointly made by itself, Staffordshire County Council and Wolverhampton City Council.

It added Staffordshire County and Wolverhampton City councils would now embark on a project to construct a new slip road off the M54 at junction 2, which would serve the i54 site.

Both councils were investing about £20m into the scheme.

Last year JLR said it was reversing a decision to close one of its two West Midlands factories.

The group, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, produces Land Rovers in two plants in Solihull in the West Midlands and in Halewood in Merseyside, while Jaguar models are produced at the Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham.

Councillor Brian Cox, chairman of South Staffordshire Council's regulatory committee, said: "It is a very important project and one which will benefit the entire region for years to come."



Source: BBC UK

Jaguar Land Rover to develop Low Carbon Engines along with University of Bath

Jaguar Land Rover is to be a partner in a new centre working on the development of low carbon turbocharged engines at the University of Bath.



The £800,000 centre is carrying out its work in collaboration with Ford and Jaguar Land Rover, as well as turbocharger manufacturer Cummins Turbo Technologies.

It has been set up as part of the UK’s drive to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles by 2020 and to help deliver more environmentally-friendly fossil fuel technology before new fuel sources become widely available.

The new centre in Bath aims to develop new downsizing technologies that can be applied to both petrol and diesel engines, allowing them to reduce fuel consumption while still giving the performance of a large engine.

Dr Chris Brace, an automotive researcher from the powertrain and vehicle research centre, within the university’s department of mechanical engineering, said: “By incorporating turbocharging into smaller engines, we can maintain power while significantly decreasing the size of the engine and the amount of fuel required to run it.

“Working with leading vehicle manufacturers is essential to the knowledge transfer of this project - by improving the relationship between research and end users we hope to accelerate the uptake of downsizing technologies.”

The research will be carried out primarily through the new turbo centre in Bath, with additional work taking place through the project partners.



The project, funded by the three industrial partners, with match funding from the university, will be completed in January 2013.

Source: Birmingham Post

Jaguar Land Rover confirms new UK plant

Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to build a £355m engine plant in the Midlands, creating more than 2,000 jobs and pumping millions of pounds worth of business into the supply chain. 

Jaguar Land Rover's new Midlands plant could eventually employ up to 2,000 workers

JLR made the announcement alongside Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, following a Government pledge to underpin JLR's investment with a £10m support package.

The new plant will be based at the i54 business park in Wolverhampton, an enterprise zone, and will take around two years to build.

The Business Secretary said the announcement was a vote of confidence in the UK's recovery from Jaguar's owners Tata Motors.

"There was fierce competition for this engine plant. Tata could have done it in India, they could have done it in various places," Mr Cable said today.

"But they've chosen to invest in Britain and in the West Midlands, which we take as a great sign of confidence."

The facility could eventually employ up to 2,000 workers, and a further 1,200 jobs will be created in the area and associated supply chain.

As well as the jobs created at the plant, Mr Cable said there would be other opportunities created by the deal.

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"The most important way in which it can act as a catalyst for other investments is through the supply chain," he added.

"There is something in the order of 15,000 direct employees of Tata but they bring with them about 140,000 employees in the supply chain.

"What we want to see is companies that might recently have migrated out of Britain because of problems in the country in recent years coming back here and making components for these new car plants in Britain."

Today's announcement is also a significant political win for the Coalition government, which is seeking to rebalance the economy by boosting manufacturing and reducing its reliance on banking.



Mr Cable said: "One of the attractions of the West Midlands is this is the heartland of the motor industry. There's a tradition of skilled labour, which is absolutely crucial to their business and I think they are showing confidence in the fact that we've put the boat out for them, we've shown them that we want to work with them.

"They've concluded this was the best place to be."

The Business Secretary said the £10m Government grant was a show of support for the manufacturer but with £350m investment from Tata, the project did not rely on public funds.

It marks a turnaround in the fortunes of JLR since it was acquired by Tata Motors in 2008. JLR's engines are currently supplied by Ford from plants including Dagenham and Bridgend, but the car maker wants to take more control of its supply chain.

Source: The Telegraph

Jaguar confirms £400m plant in the Midlands: Sunday Telegraph

Jaguar Land Rover is poised to deliver a major boost to the Government's plans to boost growth by confirming this week that it will build a £400m engine plant in the Midlands that will potentially create up to 2,000 jobs.

The Sunday Telegraph understands JLR could announce the engine plant as early as Monday alongside Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, and that it has secured financial support from the Government to bring the plant to the UK. The engine plant will be based at the i54 business park in Wolverhampton, which has been made an enterprise zone. The Coalition has also offered around £10m of support for the JLR plant, although it is not clear what form this will take.

The car industry has been identified as "crucial" by the Government if the UK is to increase the size of its manufacturing base and exports. JLR's decision to expand into a new factory will be warmly welcomed.

The plant is likely to take around two years to build and could eventually employ up to 2,000 workers, according to a source close to the negotiations.

JLR's fortunes have undergone a dramatic transformation under the ownership of Indian group, Tata Motors, which bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford in 2008.

Source: Telegraph