Jaguar Land Rover to create 800 British jobs

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron (C) views the welding of the all new aluminium bodied Range Rover at the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plant in Solihull on December 7, 2012. AFP/DAVID JONES

LONDON – Upmarket carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by India’s Tata Motors, announced on Sunday that it plans to create 800 new jobs in Britain after reporting record global sales.

More than 200 of the new jobs, at its Solihull plant in the West Midlands, will be backed by the British government’s regional growth fund, the carmaker revealed.

The extra staff is required to meet increased demand after the company announced global sales of 357,773 vehicles in 2012, a leap of 30 percent.

The spike was largely as a result of a strong showing in China, now the company’s biggest market after a 70-percent rise in sales.

JLR has created around 8,000 jobs over the last two years, and now employs 25,000 people globally.

Its Solihull plant is responsible for making the the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Land Rover Defender and Discovery models.