Jaguar Land Rover to transform historic plant for the electric era
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said its historic Halewood facility on Merseyside would be "transformed for the electric era" with an investment of £500 million.
The motoring titan, which is headquartered in Coventry with a centre in Gaydon, said £250 million had already been invested at the plant near Liverpool, where in 1963, manufacturing of the Ford Anglia began.
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It has already been extended by 32,364 sq m to produce JLR’s medium sized electric luxury SUVs on its new Electric Modular Architecture (EMA) platform.
Technology has been fitted, including new EV build lines, 750 autonomous robots, laser alignment technology, and the latest cloud based digital plant management systems, the firm said.
Additional transformation work over coming years includes a new body shop capable of producing 500 vehicle bodies a day and 40 new New Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) to assist employees to fit high voltage batteries.
A new automated painted body storage tower will also be built capable of storing 600 painted vehicle bodies.
"Halewood has been the heart and soul of JLR in the Northwest of England for well over two decades, producing vehicles such as the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport," said Barbara Bergmeier, executive director, industrial operations.
"Halewood will be our first all electric production facility, and it is a testament to the brilliant efforts by our teams and suppliers who have worked together to equip the plant with the technology needed to deliver our world class luxury electric vehicles," she added.
This investment is part of JLR’s commitment to its 'Reimagine strategy,', in which it will electrify all its brands by 2030, with the aim of achieving carbon net zero across its supply chain, products, and operations by 2039.
