Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced that it has awarded GBP1.5 billion (USD2.33 billion) of component contracts to suppliers in the United Kingdom for the new Jaguar F-Type. In a statement, the automaker said that this came as a wider GBP2.8 billion worth of orders for the sports-car to 270 global suppliers. Of these, 116 were based in the UK, with around 50% in the Midlands region where JLR is based. The automaker added that the contracts are expected to create several thousand jobs in the UK supply chain, following on from the 350 that have been added at its Castle Bromwich (United Kingdom) facility to support sports car production.
Significance: The news is another shot in the arm for the UK supplier base. Having struggled as production of some components had been shifted to low-cost regions, this appears to have now slowed as some of the automakers with bases in the country increase production. Nowhere is this more evident than at JLR, which has had immense success with the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover, while more is anticipated when the Jaguar F-Type and new Range Rover Sport come on stream. General Motors (GM) which secured the future of its Ellesmere Port (United Kingdom) factory with a deal that should see it rely on fewer components shipped into the UK, is also set to lift the local component content of its vehicles.
