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JLR's £450m expansion: Plans put i54 at heart of Big Cat's growth

Jaguar Land Rover's announcement of fresh investment puts its engine plant on the i54 site at the centre of its plans for the future.

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When it was unveiled in 2011 the plan was for a £350m scheme employing 750. Since then it has doubled in size and has now doubled again, creating a 2.1m sq ft engine factory on the border of Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire worth £1 billion and with a workforce that could reach 2,500.

That expansion has mirrored JLR's own increasing ambitions, as its sales have grown dramatically around the world. Even a slowdown in China earlier this year was countered by soaring sales in the UK, Europe and the USA.

The need for more engines for its expanding range of cars is at the heart of JLR's moves to enlarge the i54 plant,to supply its factories in the UK and those it is opening overseas, in China, Brazil, India and Eastern Europe.

An artist's impression of the new extension to the Jaguar Land Rover engine factory in Wolverhampton

That seems to have saved the i54 plans from inclusion in JLR's recently revealed £4.6bn cost-cutting drive.

It also opens the doors for companies across the West Midlands and the wider UK to win supply contracts with JLR, to make parts or supply services for the expanded factory which sits firmly at the centre of the car company's global growth plans.

Rachel Eade, the automotive expert at the Business Growth Service, said: "This £450m investment reinforces the car maker's commitment to the UK and underlines how the i54 engine plant is already playing a crucial role in the company's ambitious plans to double its production output and achieve lower emission engines.

"As well as the hundreds of jobs set to be created at the plant, there will no doubt be additional spin-offs in the supply chain and we expect our SMEs to be in an ideal position to take advantage of increased volumes and new opportunities.

"According to industry sources we could well be on course to match the 1970s peak of two million cars by the end of the decade."

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