The Jaguar Land Rover Engine Manufacturing Center: A Look Inside

This year Jaguar will be launching an all-new compact premium sport sedan, the XE, which will come to the U.S. in 2016. The XE is based on a new aluminum-intensive architecture, in keeping with the approach that Jaguar has been using for its vehicles for the past several years. (The 2015 Ford F-150 is somewhat late to the game when it comes to aluminum utilization.)

One of the key aspects of the XE is that it will be the first Jaguar vehicle to get an all-new engine, named “Ingenium.” The engine is a high-output, two-liter four cylinder engine that comes in gasoline and diesel variants. All will be turbocharged. The aluminum engine—Jaguar is nothing if not consistent in this regard—can be used in both in-line and transverse orientations, as well as for rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations.

In support of the Ingenium engine, Jaguar Land Rover has built a 100,000-m² (1,076,000-ft²) facility, the Jaguar Land Rover Engine Manufacturing Center (not exactly an imaginative name, but . . . )  in Wolverhampton, which is about 15 minutes by car from Birmingham, UK.

The engine plant, which is a £500-million (~$775-million) invest-ment, of which about half was spent on machinery and equipment, according to Paul Blackman, production area manager in the plant, was announced in September, 2011. They quickly set to as the plant went into production on October 30, 2014.

Here is a look inside . . . 

The Jaguar XE, compact premium sport sedan at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. The car will be launched this year in Europe; it will come to the U.S. in 2016. The XE is the first car that will be fitted with the all-new Ingenium four-cylinder engine.

Section of the material handling in the Engine Manufacturing Center.

The Jaguar Ingenium engine. This 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine will come in both gasoline and diesel types. It can be used longitudinally or transverse orientation.

Ingenium cylinder head.

Crankshaft machining. The block and head are aluminum. The crank is steel. Before being put in the engine the crankshaft is polished to 0.003 mm.

Engine assembly. Note pistons prior to insertion in the block.

 Fixtured engines in the assembly hall. Completed engines undergo 90-seconds of cold testing.

The Engine Manufacturing Center has 71 suppliers, of which about a third are UK-based.