China Facility Marks JLR’s First Engine Plant Outside England

Today Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. is opening a factory in China to make gasoline engines for vehicles it builds nearby.

JLR operates assembly plants in Brazil, China and India in addition to the U.K.. But the new engine plant in Changshu is the company’s first outside England., the Financial Times notes.

The factory is adjacent to the JLR venture with Chery Automobile Co. that assembles Land Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport SUVs and Jaguar XFL extended-wheelbase Jaguar sedans for the Chinese market. Engines for those models currently are imported from the U.K.

The new facility has capacity to make 130,000 engines per year, all of which will be used in vehicles sold in China. Last year JLR sold 119,000 cars and SUVs in the country.