Jaguar Land Rover is taking some of its production abroad, confirming today that it will be assembling vehicles in China.

But it insists that it is still committed to the UK, and announced it is taking on an extra 1,000 temporary workers in the West Midlands to help meet increasing demand.

The new jobs are linked to the production of new compact Range Rover model due next year, the production version of the Land Rover LRX.

Last year, Jaguar Land Rover’s workforce in the UK was reduced by about 2,500 people to 16,000.

And the company said yesterday that it remains committed to closing either its factory in Solihull, which employs 5,000 workers, or its Castle Bromwich site that employs 2,000.

However the new production in China, together with the extra temporary workers, reflects a buoyant year that has seen pre-tax profits rise to £32 million, compared to a loss of £281m for the previous year.

Chief executive Carl-Peter Forster said: “We will need to manufacture at least two models in China. We’ll take one to two years to set it up, but first we will need a partner.”

The company said the move into China is not a shift out of the UK.

“It takes a year or two before the jobs become permanent,” said Mr Forster, who is also chief executive of Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company.

During the year to March, 193,982 vehicles were sold and this year the company expects to sell more than 200,000.

Much of the growth came from China, where Jaguar sales rose 38 per cent and Land Rover sales rose 55 per cen. The market is also strong in India.

But Mr Forster was eager to stress that China, or indeed India, would “never be the centre for Jaguar Land Rover, it will remain in the UK”, he said.

By Christine Dyer