A low volume new Jaguar SUV will be built under contract in Austria because the UK production lines are nearing capacity.
Jaguar Land Rover has signed a contract to build the vehicles at Magna Steyr which already builds the Mercedes G, Peugeot RCZ and some Mini models.
JLR chief executive Ralf Speth said that the company is staying loyal to its origins, “The UK remains at the center of our design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Partnerships such as this will complement our UK operations and engineering.”
Suppliers report that a Jaguar-badged subcompact SUV/crossover, the E-Pace, will be built in Austria in comparatively low numbers.
It will come in below the forthcoming Jaguar F-Pace, which will be produced in JLR’s factory in Solihull.
JLR built almost one in three of the UK’s 1.53 million cars in 2014.
JLR said it will be investing £3.6 billion on new vehicles and capital expenditure in 2015-16.
The company opened its first overseas manufacturing plant in China in October and is building a Brazilian plant and has also discussed a Middle East assembly plant. Magna Steyr is a subsidiary of Canada’s Magna International.
