Jaguar Land Rover parent says company is 'safe in our hands'

The owner of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has vowed that quality and brand values will not be compromised by its overseas expansion plans – and vowed to support the business for decades.

Last week, JLR announced it will open a manufacturing plant in Brazil in a £240m investment, with the first cars expected to roll off the production line by 2016.

This will follow the opening of a joint venture investment worth £1.5bn in China, with Chinese carmaker Chery, due to open in 2015.

Although JLR has not revealed what models will be produced in China and Brazil, Halewood’s popular Range Rover Evoque, which has taken the global market by storm since its launch more than two years ago, will be an obvious contender.

Roger Maddison, chief car industry negotiator for Unite the Union, said he sees no threat to UK jobs from the two proposed international plants.

But concerns have been raised about what impact they could have on the renowned British design qualities of JLR models, and the supreme quality of manufacturing at a company that prides itself on the high standards of its three UK plants in the West Midlands and Knowsley’s Halewood.

However, in an interview at Tata’s global headquarters in Mumbai, Mr Mukund Govind Rajan allayed any fears of compromise on JLR's standards.

He is a member of Tata’s group executive council and also brand custodian and chief ethics officer for the global conglomerate.

He told the Liverpool Post: “In China, setting up shop, a lot has to do with local recruitment and the value of training.”

JLR recently completed  a three- month training programme for China's “first joiners” who were tutored at Halewood in quality standards and will pass on their skills to the rest of the Chinese workforce.

Mr Rajan added: “We have terrific practices in the company and translating this to new facilities is not much of an issue.

“The brand will not undergo any changes in these markets. JLR brands will remain.

“Customers across the world have an affinity to JLR brands and the last thing we need to do as an owner is disrupt that relationship.

“We don’t want to create any kind of trouble for these brands.”

Mr Rajan said Tata had been delighted with the performance of JLR since it bought the group from Ford for £1.15bn and injected a further £1.5bn in 2009 to ensure its survival during one of the worst downturns in the automotive sector in decades.

And he reassured the UK workforce that Tata will be the custodian of JLR for decades to come.

“We have been delighted with the way the company and employees responded to the challenges at JLR,” he said.

“It is not about how do we save cash and cut back. It is about what do we do to build the business in the next 50 years. We don’t enter businesses easily, but when we do we are in it for the long term.

“We are not an aggressive, acquisitive entity, firing management and stripping assets and moving on. We build in the long term.”

When Tata bought JLR,  it also acquired Corus Steel in the UK and Mr Rajan admitted that there was a perception among Indian commentators and market analysts that the JLR deal was the “dodgier” of the two, but he said: “On current form,  JLR is turning out to be one of our outstanding successes.

“We work with the unions and the community and with JLR we have been very lucky and fortunate.

“There is a fair amount of satisfaction that a lot of growth has been seen and perhaps it has surprised the company, particularly the growth in China.

“But when we went in, this company had tradition and a legacy and a very interesting product pipeline and smart managers.

“We committed capital to ensure that pipeline was delivered and we needed leadership that was willing to give people the space to pursue their dreams.

“JLR meant a lot to the Tata group and they have a lot of time for the company and the new owners that inspired the managers.

“They knew we were watching and waiting for their success. It says a lot about the quality of the people we have there.”

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Jaguar Land Rover to build plant in Brazil, the first British car maker to do so.

• Agreement signed with the State of Rio de Janeiro to build a Jaguar Land Rover manufacturing facility
• Jaguar Land Rover will invest R$750m (£240m) in the programme
• Plant will have an annual production capacity of 24,000 vehicles
• Plant will initially employ 400 people, generating additional jobs in the supply chain
• First vehicles to come off the assembly line in 2016

Jaguar Land Rover is to become the first British carmaker to open a manufacturing facility in Brazil following a landmark agreement between the company and state authorities to build a plant in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

An agreement paving the way for construction of the plant has been signed by Phil Hodgkinson, Global Business Expansion Director of Jaguar Land Rover, and Sergio Cabral, State Governor of Rio de Janeiro.

Jaguar Land Rover’s planned expansion into Brazil 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 identified in Brazil and across other South American markets.

Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Brazil and the surrounding regions are very important. Customers there have an increasing appetite for highly capable premium products.

“This new programme will enable us to bring exciting new vehicles to them, with outstanding British design and engineering, creating a world-class Jaguar Land Rover facility incorporating leading premium manufacturing technologies.

“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.”

Based in the City of Itatiaia, the new programme represents a total investment of R$750m (£240m) by 2020.

Construction of the premium manufacturing facility will commence in mid-2014. It is anticipated that the first vehicles will come off the assembly line in 2016, subject to the final approval of the plans from the Brazilian Federal Government under its Inovar-auto Programme. 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.

Following a detailed feasibility study, Jaguar Land Rover selected the City of Itatiaia, close to the heart of the emerging Regional Automotive Zone, due to its excellent logistics links, access to the local supplier base and skilled workforce.

Sergio Cabral, Governor of Rio de Janeiro State commented: "The choice of Rio de Janeiro to host the Jaguar Land Rover’s new facility is another historic achievement for our state. We offer perfect conditions to JLR to install its plant in Brazil, as we have an automotive hub in the South Fluminense region that concentrates qualified labour and important suppliers.

It is a privilege to welcome this great group, with an estimated investment of up to R$750 million and we are confident that this agreement will bring to Brazil extraordinary results."

Jaguar Land Rover in Brazil

Jaguar Land Rover has had a presence in the Brazilian market for more than 20 years. Its national sales company is based in Sao Paulo, employing almost 100 people. There are currently 35 dealers across Brazil with further expansion planned in the next year.

So far in 2013, Jaguar Land Rover sales in Brazil have increased by more than 40% to 9,549 vehicles over the 10 month period. The best-selling models in Brazil are Range Rover Evoque, Freelander and Discovery.

Jaguar Land Rover to build plant in Brazil ?

Jaguar Land Rover will invest about 1 billion reais ($436.9 million) to build a new manufacturing plant in Brazil's state of Rio de Janeiro, three government sources told Reuters.

Production at the factory, to be built in the city of Itatiaia, could begin as early as 2015, and an official announcement is scheduled for Dec. 3, said one of the sources, who is not authorized to speak on the record.

"Everything is very advanced with only minor details to be worked out," said Luiz Carlos Ferreira Bastos, Itatiaia's mayor. The factory could employ 500 to 700 people, he added.

The two other government sources, both with Rio de Janeiro's state government, confirmed that Land Rover plans to build in Itatiaia, although they declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Earlier this month, Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India's Tata Motors, said it plans to expand manufacturing and increase production in markets outside its UK home base, particularly in China and Brazil.

The decision comes after rival brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi all decided to build plants in Brazil, spurred by government moves to raise taxes on imported vehicles, while offering tax breaks for automakers that increase domestic investments.

"Jaguar Land Rover confirms that it is carrying out a study on the installation of a manufacturing unit in the country," a company representative told Reuters on Monday. "At this time, we can not confirm the size of the investment or other details of the study."

Negotiations started at the beginning of this year, one of the sources said, with Rio de Janeiro's state government offering tax breaks and fiscal incentives to help attract the company.

From January through October, Land Rover sold 8,920 automobiles in Brazil, trailing BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which sold 11,520 and 10,510 cars, respectively, according to local auto dealers association Fenabrave.

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New Ford KA five door concept could be sold in Europe !

Ford Motor may sell in Europe the five-door Ka minicar unveiled by company executives in Brazil.

A Ford of Europe spokesman said the automaker has no made a decision on whether to offer the vehicle in Europe but "it's on the shelf for Ford of Europe to draw down if it decides to."

Top Ford executives, including Chairman Bill Ford, were at the company's Camacari plant in Brazil on Wednesday to showcase a concept version of the global Ka five-door hatchback, which will be introduced in Brazil next year.

Eventually, Ford will bring the global Ka to other emerging markets, including China, where more families are amassing the wealth needed to buy their first vehicle.

Speaking to reporters last week in Detroit, Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of the Americas, said the Ka Concept is "one of the most important product programs in the company in the last few years."

In Europe Ford currently sells the second-generation Ka three-door, launched in 2008. The Ka is based on the Fiat 500 and is built in the Italian automaker's factory in Tychy, Poland, alongside the 500. Ten-month sales of the Ka in Europe fell 18 percent to 40,000, according to market researchers JATO Dynamics.

Last year Ford of Europe CEO Stephen Odell told Automotive New Europe there was no rush to replace the three-door Ka. "Our contract with Fiat goes well into the second half of this decade, so we are not in a hurry," he said.

Premium look

Designed and built in Brazil, the Ka five-door concept is smaller and less expensive than a Ford Fiesta subcompact. The Ka carries Ford's new global design language, which Ford officials believe give their vehicles a premium look. "It makes it look like a much more expensive vehicle for much less," Ford designer Ehab Kavod said. "It's the smallest car we do, but when you look at it, it exudes premium."

Ford said the concept is a "strong precursor" to the production car, offering class-leading fuel economy and a host of useful technologies, including a a docking station to accommodate a smart phone, allowing the driver to view navigation and other features.

Ford expects global sales of small, low-cost cars to grow 35 percent between 2012 and 2017, outpacing the expected 12 percent rise for the industry as a whole. Ford said 44 percent of the market for "sub-B" cars will be in South Asia and South America.

The automaker now feeds this market with its current-generation Ka and Figo, which are built on older, locally tailored vehicle platforms that Ford is increasingly avoiding.

The Ka Concept unveiled in Brazil is part of Ford CEO Alan Mulally's One Ford strategy of building global models that can be sold in countries around the world. Ford is working to commonize its vehicles around the world on a series of core platforms. In doing so, the carmaker hopes to save money on engineering, purchasing commodities and manufacturing.

The Ka Concept follows the Ford EcoSport subcompact SUV that was developed in Brazil for global markets. As well as Brazil, the EcoSport also goes into production in India from next year with sales in Europe starting in the summer.

Ford's first global vehicle under Mulally was the Fiesta in 2008, but developing a global car as small and cheap as the Ka has been a challenge. Ford studied Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai and Kia and their approach to the global market for small cars, Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said.

Bradford Wernle, Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report

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