JLR to open facility in Brazil

Jaguar Land Rover will open a manufacturing facility in Brazil following an agreement between the company and state authorities to build a plant in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Jaguar Land Rover has been in Brazil for 20 years now and already has 35 dealerships there. This planned expansion is the next major step in the company's strategy to increase its global manufacturing footprint and create additional capacity. This new facility will play an important role in supporting the significant growth opportunity in Brazil and across other South American markets.

Construction of the premium manufacturing facility will commence in mid-2014. It is anticipated that the first set of vehicles will come off the assembly line in 2016. The new plant will have a capacity to build 24,000 vehicles annually for the Brazilian market.

Initially, the plant will employ almost 400 people. This number is expected to almost double by the end of the decade. This new manufacturing facility will also create additional jobs across the local supply chain network.

Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, said, "We have established excellent working relationships with the State of Rio de Janeiro, the City of Itatiaia & the Rio de Janeiro State Industrial Development Company and we look forward to attracting new customers to our business in this important market."