JLR has been cleared of receiving illegal EU money for its new assembly plant in Nitra, Slovakia.
The European Commission said yesterday it concluded that Slovakia’s £110.6 million of investment aid to Jaguar Land Rover was in line with EU State aid rules.
The Commission said public support for the British carmaker to build in the Nitra region was necessary to ensure the plant was in Europe rather than in Mexico.
“We also found that the measure will contribute to job creation and to the economic development of a disadvantaged region without unduly distorting competition,” said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in a statement.
Jaguar Land Rover is investing £120 billion to build the car manufacturing plant in an area eligible for regional aid under EU state aid rules. The Commission opened an in-depth investigation into the aid in May 2017 over Jaguar Land Rover’s deliberations in 2015 about where to build the new factory.
The future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port car and Luton van plants could be changed after Brexit, said PSA Group’s Europe boss Maxime Picat at the Paris motor show.
He told Reuters that the company intended to add Citroen Jumpy and Peugeot Expert vans to the Luton lines next year but if trading conditions in 2020 meant they had to build UK and European models in separate factories closer to where they are sold the viability of their operations would have to be considered as volumes would be reduced in each location.