Jaguar Land Rover have said that they will create 1,300 new jobs in order to build Jaguar’s first sports utility vehicle (SUV) at its Solihull plant in the West Midlands.

The firm has already invested £1.5bn in the Solihull plant in order to be able to increase production, and in the past three years the work force has almost doubled to 9,450. In the UK, Jaguar Land Rover currently employs 30,500 people. 

The new Jaguar F-PACE will be based on its C-X17 concept car. That was first launched at the Frankfurt motor show in 2013. The new model is due to go on sale in 2016.

Jaguar spend about £3.5bn on product investment each year and one thing that they really focus on is making sure their future cars are both economic in terms of fuel economy and CO2. This car is to be built at one of the world’s biggest aluminium body shops at Solihull, which has had a huge amount of money invested in it over the last couple of years, so this vehicle will not be a ‘gas guzzler’ – as stated by Jaguar Land Rover’s UK executive director, Mike Wright.

The luxury car firm, owned by India’s Tata Motors, said it has chosen the UK as the new model’s manufacturing base, to allow the vehicle to be ‘crafted with that special British flair.’ The announcement has demonstrated its commitment to the UK and the advancement of a high-tech, high-skilled, manufacturing-led economy. The UKs car manufacturing sector is in good health and is thriving, with a new car rolling off of the production line every 20 seconds. Increasing levels of investment is also helping to secure local jobs.

For the fifth consecutive year Jaguar Land Rover sales have grown, selling 462,678 vehicles globally last year – a rise of 9% year on year. China saw the largest growth, with sales up 28% - while in the UK sales rose 7%.

The Jaguar F Pace will rival BMW’s X3 and Audi’s Q5, upon its release in 2016. With the XE on sale at the end of April and the new XF due towards the end of the year, 2015 is shaping up to be a big one for Jaguar Land Rover. 

- Danielle Wheeler