Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has opened its first overseas manufacturing facility in China.
The Range Rover Evoque will be the first model to be built under the first Chinese-British automotive joint venture with Chery Automobile Company Ltd, the luxury car maker said in a statement.
Inaugural sales of the China-made Evoque are due to begin in early 2015, while more models are to be introduced by 2016.
Located in the Changshu Economic Development Zone north of Shanghai, the Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Company factory is part of a RMB 10.9 billion joint venture investment plan that will include the establishment of Greater China Research and Development Centre and engine manufacturing.
Ralf Speth, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover, and Yin Tongyao, Chairman and CEO, Chery Automobile Company, welcomed the formal opening of the facility that aims to be the most advanced and efficient car factory in China.
By 2016, the facility is expected to build three JLR models with a total production capacity of 130,000 units a year. The vehicles will be manufactured in highly-automated press shops – including cutting-edge aluminium and steel technologies – along with a steel body shop comprising 306 robots, an energy-efficient paint shop and an ergonomically-friendly final assembly line.
A new aluminium body shop, the first in China, is already under construction, at the Changshu facility, to support the introduction of new Jaguar products.
Chris Bryant, President of Chery Jaguar Land Rover joint venture, said: “The plant opening marks the completion of our start-up phase.”
The company will also invest significantly to train over 2,000 new people in health and safety standards, process systems and problem-solving, as well as the company’s quality-control processes and corporate culture.
JLR had first established a presence in China just over a decade ago. Once fully operational, output from the new facility will include new derivatives and models specially designed for the Chinese market.
In the last fiscal year, JLR sold more than 100,000 vehicles in China, making it the çompany’s single largest market.