News : HM The Queen opens Jaguar Land Rover’s new Engine Manufacturing Centre

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Jaguar Land Rover today marked a seminal moment in its history with the official opening of its new Engine Manufacturing Centre by HM the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The £500m facility, announced in September 2011, represents a significant step in Jaguar Land Rover’s strategic investment programme and will see engines being produced in-house for the first time in a generation.

Located near Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, the Engine Manufacturing Centre is home to the Ingenium engine family which will power a new generation of Jaguar Land Rover products designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK. This starts with the 2.0-litre diesel, which rolls off the production line early next year, destined for the new Jaguar XE.

Commenting on the opening Dr. Ralf Speth said: ‘The Engine Manufacturing Centre represents all that is great about British engineering.

‘Jaguar Land Rover is a business driven by design, technology and innovation and this investment and level of job creation is yet further evidence of our commitment to advancing the capability of the UK automotive sector and its supply chain.”

The Wolverhampton plant is the result of a £500 million investment and boosts local employment by 1400.
The Wolverhampton plant is the result of a £500 million investment and boosts local employment by 1,400

With a vision to set a new global benchmark for excellence in engine manufacturing, Jaguar Land Rover is drawing on the expertise of 2,000 powertrain engineers who have been inspired by the company’s 70-year heritage in the design and development of iconic engines. These engineers, together with the new 1,400 strong team at the Engine Manufacturing Centre, will deliver the next generation of highly efficient, ultra-low emission 4-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.

Jaguar Land Rover broke ground on the i54 Business Park site in June 2012. Today, the 100,000 square metre, state-of-the-art facility, houses an engine-testing centre alongside manufacturing and assembly halls, and meets the highest standards of sustainable production.

Awarded a rating of ‘excellent’ by BREEAM, for sustainable buildings, the facility is home to the largest rooftop solar panel installation in the UK, comprising no fewer than 21,000 individual panels. It is estimated that these panels will generate more than 30% of the plant’s energy requirements – providing the same amount of energy required to power 1,600 homes.

Commenting on the importance of the Engine Manufacturing Centre, Trevor Leeks, Operations Director at the site said: ‘I am proud to be leading the world-class team who will bring years of hard work to fruition as we execute the flawless launch of Jaguar Land Rover’s first in-house engines in a generation.

‘Our new Engine Manufacturing Centre is an important step in advancing the competitiveness and capability of the UK automotive sector. The production of in-house engines will support the expansion of the UK supply chain providing critical mass for inward investment.”

Mike Humble

10 Comments

  1. The last car plant the Duke of Edinburgh opened was Linwood. Lets hope this one lasts a bit longer! – I’m sure it will.

    • So he never opened any of the Japanese car plants? I guess he couldn’t be trusted not to say something rude 🙂

  2. Great news. As a matter of interest, where did the 2000 powertrain engineers come from? I presume JLR would have had a few designing the Bridgend built V8, and for their version of the Dagenham built Diesel, but I presume they must have significantly ramped up their staff levels.

  3. Let’s hope the engine is reliable and doesn’t suffer from “issues” like the Rover K-series did. This new Ingenium series of engines will soon be installed in every saloon they make, so it has to work ! The petrol version and the XE saloon greatly interests me as a possible replacement for my XJ6 in a few years time when depreciation has done its work.

  4. AFAIK the V8 was designed at Whitley and built at Bridgend . The remark by Leeks was ambiguous. I think what he meant to say was that it was the first launch in a generation : the Bridgend factory has always been an in-house Jaguar operation hasn’t it ? And where have the LR V8s always been built ?

  5. Does this fine new plant threaten Bridgend’s continuing success? Are there job losses and a shrinking of Ford’s plant now that it doesn’t build the JLR engines?

    • The Jaguar and RR V8 (and V6 derivative in the F type etc) will continue to be built in Bridgend. The 4 cylinder and V6 diesels are currently built at Dagenham, which has enough work to cope with the loss of business. I think the 2L petrol engine is built in Spain.

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