Jaguar Land Rover building new Special Vehicle Operations facility

Sun, 17 Aug 2014

It's only been a couple of months since Jaguar Land Rover announced the formation of its new Special Operations division, and we've already seen a number of vehicles to come out of it. But now the British automaker has announced a new facility that will house its elite skunkworks department.

Set to be built at Prologis Park in Ryton, England, on the outskirts of Coventry, the new Special Vehicle Operations Technical Centre will encompass dedicated production lines, F1-style flexible workshops, a dedicated paint studio and VIP suite for commissioning bespoke projects. JLR will spend some $33 million on the facility that will be home to 150 specialists – 100 of them being new hires.

The first project which the Special Operations division is working on is the F-Type Project 7, but we've already seen more projects in the pipeline – including the upcoming Range Rover Sport SVR – and you can bet there'll be more. The revival of the Lightweight E-Type also falls under Special Operations, but is undertaken by the Jaguar Heritage department located nearby at Browns Lane.

In addition to the SVO Technical Center and Jaguar Heritage workshop, Jaguar Land Rover operates research and development facilities in Gaydon (for Land Rover), Whitley (for Jaguar) and at the University of Warwick and assembly plants at Castle Bromwich (where the XF, XJ and F-Type are built), Halewood (home of the Freelander/LR2 and Range Rover Evoque), Solihull (Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Discovery/LR4 and Defender). It's also got a new engine plant in the works for Wolverhampton, new assembly plants planned for China and Brazil, and one already on line in India.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER ANNOUNCES LOCATION OF SPECIAL VEHICLE OPERATIONS TECHNICAL CENTRE

- Special Vehicle Operations Technical Centre to be located in Ryton
- 100 new highly-skilled jobs to be filled

- Will create high luxury bespoke commissions and high performance vehicles
- Complements existing research and development activities

Whitley, UK, 14th August, 2014 - Jaguar Land Rover announces that it has chosen Prologis Park, Ryton, near Coventry for the company's investment in its Special Vehicle Operations Technical Centre. The facility will be Jaguar Land Rover's global centre of excellence for the creation of high-end luxury bespoke commissions and extreme performance vehicles. With operations set to begin towards the end of the year, a team of 150 Jaguar Land Rover specialists will be based at Ryton. Some 100 of those highly-skilled engineering and technician jobs will be new. £20 million will be invested in installing specialist equipment and a customer commissioning suite.

The Technical Centre will be part of the company's Special Operations, created in June under the leadership of John Edwards to focus on meeting the increasing expectations of today's most discerning and enthusiastic Jaguar and Land Rover customers. Its unique facilities will feature a VIP customer commissioning suite for bespoke services and premium vehicle personalisation, as well as Formula 1-inspired flexible workshops and a specialist paint studio.

Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations, John Edwards, commented: "We are excited by the capability and potential that this new facility will give us. We will be creating truly iconic vehicles that reinforce the global reputation of both Jaguar and Land Rover brands as we expand our product portfolio and fulfil our ambitious plans."

A Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations team of 150 specialists will be based at Oxford Road, creating high luxury, individually-tailored "halo" vehicles. Of these jobs, some 100 will be newly-created engineering and other highly-skilled operational jobs. The location will complement Jaguar Land Rover's engineering, design and testing facilities at Whitley and Gaydon, as well as the new Jaguar Heritage workshop at Browns Lane, Coventry and the company's advanced manufacturing facilities.

The first vehicle to roll out of the new SVO workshop will be the Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7, the most powerful and fastest production Jaguar to date. This is an exclusive product, with just 250 models being made available worldwide. Each F-TYPE Project 7 will start life at the company's plant in Castle Bromwich, before transferring to the Special Operations Technical Centre to complete the build by hand.

Jaguar Land Rover continues to deliver on its strategic growth plans, which will see the company investing in 50 new product actions over the next five years. This includes £1.5 billion to introduce an all-new, technically-advanced aluminium vehicle architecture in forthcoming models, beginning with the new Jaguar XE premium sedan to be manufactured from 2015 at the company's Solihull facility. The new Land Rover Discovery Sport, which will go on sale in 2015, will be the most versatile and capable vehicle in the compact SUV segment. It is the first member of an all-new family of Discovery vehicles, inspired by the Discovery Vision Concept which was showcased at the New York International Auto Show in April 2014.

By Noah Joseph