7:41 am, August 17, 2023
British carmaker JLR has said it will create hundreds of new jobs as it seeks to ramp up production of its profitable Range Rover models.
Roles for 300 technicians and test engineers will be created at three of JLR’s key sites in the Midlands.
At its Solihull base, 100 new technicians will allow the firm to increase production of Range Rover models – cars which have, up until now, been hampered by a shortage of components.
The roles will be created at a new body shop, and will enable 30 per cent more Range Rover and Range Rover Sports to be produced ‘in future quarters’, the firm said.
The Solihull site will also, from next year, be producing the long-awaited electric version of the Range Rover, which will be the first Land Rover EV.
The remaining 200 jobs are for technicians and test engineers at its development centres in Gaydon, Warwickshire, and Whitley, near Coventry, which will help create ‘JLR’s next-generation electric vehicles’.
JLR’s executive director of industrial operations Barbara Bergmeier, said: ‘Solihull and Gaydon are at the heart of our global operations and these roles are an opportunity for talented individuals to be part of our transformation to electrification.
‘I am extremely excited to welcome a new cohort of individuals to develop their skills and join our family of proud creators of some of the most desirable modern luxury vehicles.’
After several challenging years, JLR has recently returned to profitability, with the firm announcing in July that it made £435m in profit in the first financial quarter of the 2023/24 year.
At the time, it said it still had 185,000 global orders, 76 per cent of which were across its three core models, the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender.
