Jaguar Land Rover is to expand its advanced engineering and design center in Whitley, UK, as part of a multi-million pound investment plan. It has purchased an additional 62 acres at the facility near Coventry, more than doubling the current 55-acre site, where new highly-skilled product development engineers will be employed.
Dr Ralf Speth, JLR CEO, said, “Our expansion at Whitley will help ensure the sustainable growth of the company, with the development of ultra-low emission technologies. Design leadership, technical innovation and engineering excellence lie at the heart of this responsible business and we are committed to investing in the skills needed to continue this success into the future.”
The announcement of JLR’s Whitley expansion follows the recent initiation of construction at its £150m National Automotive Innovation Centre (above left), which will open at the University of Warwick in spring 2017. This will house state-of-the-art technology for JLR’s research team and collaborative partners from the supply chain and academia.
Meanwhile, Dr Wolfgang Ziebart is to stand down from the role of engineering director at JLR, with Nick Rogers (right) succeeding him and assuming board-level responsibilities for global engineering operations. Ziebart will then focus on technology development at the car maker.
Speth said, “Nick has worked for Jaguar Land Rover for more than 30 years and has broad experience across engineering, manufacturing and product delivery. His experience, skills, passion and dedication to Jaguar Land Rover will make him a great leader for the engineering team. I wish him every success in leading the teams that are creating the new Jaguar and Land Rover advanced technologies and vehicles of the future.”
April 1, 2015
