Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to create 1,300 new jobs at its Solihull plant in the West Midlands as it breaks into the sports utility vehicle (SUV) market for the first time.
The British carmaker revealed details of its first 4x4 "crossover" vehicle yesterday at the Detroit Auto Show, one of the world's biggest annual motoring events.
The Jaguar F-PACE, based on the C-X17 concept first unveiled in 2013, is set to arrive in dealerships in 2016 and is said to be the next step in the company's development of aluminium and lightweight technologies.
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Solihull is already home to one of the world's largest aluminium body shops and final assembly hall, collectively the size of 22 football pitches, says the Birmingham Post.
The company, owned by Indian multinational Tata Motors, has 30,500 UK staff and has invested £1.5bn in new production facilities at Solihull over the past year.
The new F-PACE will follow this year's launch of the Jaguar XE sports saloon, which has seen several thousand new UK jobs created in recent years.
Chief executive Ralf Speth said yesterday's announcement demonstrated the company's "commitment to the UK and the advancement of a high-tech, high-skilled, manufacturing-led economy".
He added: "We want to offer customers greater choice, with even more exciting vehicles, crafted with that special British flair."
Business Secretary Vince Cable told the BBC the decision was a "ringing endorsement" of the UK's car industry. "The UK's automotive industry is thriving with a new car rolling off the production line every 20 seconds, and increasing levels of investment that's helping to secure local jobs," he said.
Jaguar Land Rover is set to reveal another record year of sales, says the Daily Telegraph, with almost 463,000 vehicles sold worldwide, a 9 per cent increase on 2013. Land Rover celebrated 381,108 vehicle sales, while Jaguar sales were 81,570.
"JLR has turned into a remarkable success story since Tata acquired it from Ford for $2.5bn (£1.5bn) in 2008," says the newspaper.
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