New chapter starts at Jaguar Land Rover's i54 plant

JLR's engine factory, on the i54 near Telford, has started making petrol engines for the first time after seeing its workforce grow to nearly 1,000 people.

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In a new chapter for Jaguar Land Rover, it revealed the £1billion factory, next to the M54, will be supplying both petrol and diesel four-cylinder engines for its cars by next year.

At the same time the car maker is to pump £100 million into its Castle Bromwich factory so it can start making the hugely-popular Jaguar XE saloon.

The XE was the first car fitted with the four-cylinder diesel Ingenium engines made at i54 when it launched last year.

The diesel engines are used in all the new Jaguars – including the F-Type sports car and the new F-Pace crossover, as well as the Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

JLR has now revealed production has started of four-cylinder Ingenium petrol engines. Designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK, they will deliver up to 25 per cent more power than the engines they replace and offer fuel consumption reductions of up to 15%.

Test production runs of the engines will continue this year and they will start being fitted into cars next year.

The XE and the F-Pace – the most popular car in Jaguar's history – are both made at Solihull but demand is outstripping the factory's ability to cope. It is already running three shifts, 24-hours a day.

As a result JLR is investing £100m into the Jaguar factory at Castle Bromwich so it can start making the XE.

There is no suggestion at the moment that the move will mean any major increase in jobs.

Wolfgang Stadler, JLR's executive director of manufacturing, said: "The significant investment gives us the flexibility to quickly respond to consumer demand."

The arrival of XE at Castle Bromwich continues the renaissance of the plant, which was threatened with closure in 2008.