Jaguar Land Rover has signed a manufacturing deal with Magna Steyr, an operating unit of Magna International Inc, under which the latter will be building some future vehicles in Graz, Austria.
JRL revealed in a press release that the company has put in motion its plans to take production of vehicles as three of its UK plants to their operating capacity and its partnership with Magna Steyr will enable the company to create additional volumes needed to support the company’s plans to achieve further growth.
Dr. Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover’s Chief Executive Officer stressed that UK remains and will be company’s centre of design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities and that such partnerships help strengthen and complement UK operations and engineering.
Magna Steyr has over 100 years of extensive contract manufacturing experience and is a leading global automotive supplier with 316 manufacturing operations and 84 product development, engineering and sales centres in 29 countries
Günther Apfalter, President Magna Steyr and Magna International Europe said that the contract with JLR reflects the trust in Magna Steyr’s capability and heritage as a vehicle contract manufacturer.
“The partnership with Jaguar Land Rover brings a new customer to our Graz plant. As always, we will work with our fullest commitment and dedication to ensure that we meet our customer’s high expectations.”
JLR has been busy expanding its overseas manufacturing presence with the opening of its joint venture factory in China and the construction of its new plant in Brazil is underway. The expansion of its international manufacturing operations allows Jaguar Land Rover to develop an increasingly flexible, agile and efficient global manufacturing strategy.
Over the past five years, Jaguar Land Rover has doubled sales to more than 462,000 vehicles, doubled employment to more than 35,000 people and invested more than £10 billion in new product creation and capital expenditure.
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 10 all-new vehicles, including the Jaguar XE, Jaguar F-TYPE, Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.
Tata, the owners of JLR, have already shown a lot more faith in the abilities of UK workers and management than the previous regimes, have rescued the marques from what seemed like a slip into bankruptcy, and have already invested heavily in JLR’s UK manufacturing base.
Whilst one pound spent on expansion overseas might be seen disappointingly as one less pound available for UK investment, I think they deserve support for this particular move which will add a “Euro-competence” perception to JLR’s vehicles, Magna-Steyr having an excellent reputation for engineering quality.