Jaguar Land Rover has been overwhelmed by applications for its graduate recruitment scheme following the launch of a recruitment drive to support a multi-billion pound investment plan to create new products.

More than 6,500 youngsters have applied for 280 graduate recruitment places this year — an increase of 68 per cent compared with 2010 and treble the level of 2009.

For 2011, the 280 graduates will be hired for a variety of roles across the business — from product development engineering, manufacturing, finance, human resources, marketing, IT and purchasing.

Jaguar Land Rover HR director, Des Thurlby, said: “Our plans over the next few years will see us spending billions of pounds to research and develop exciting new products and technologies.

“This investment will secure Jaguar Land Rover’s position as an innovative, world-class manufacturer of luxury vehicles.” The long-term investment Jaguar Land Rover has been making in its people has also been recognised.

Successful applicants will be working for one of the UK’s top graduate firms after it was named in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list for 2010.

“Seeing the number of graduate applications triple in just two years reflects the increasingly positive perception people have of our business,” added Mr Thurlby.