JLR Launches SUV Production in Brazil

Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. has begun assembling SUVs at its new factory in Itatiaia, Brazil.

The $350 million facility near Rio de Janeiro has capacity to produce 24,000 vehicles per year but will make fewer than 10,000 units this year. The factory builds Land Rover discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque SUVs.

Brazil’s car market is expected to shrink to 2.1 million vehicles this year from a peak of 3.8 million units four years ago. But JLR reports sales of its luxury SUVs in the country jumped 11% through the first five months of 2016.

JLR opened the €1.8 billion assembly plant in China with partner Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. in 2014 and assembles vehicles in India from kits. The company also expects to open a €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) factory in Nitra, Slovakia, in 2018. The company aims to achieve global production capacity of 1 million vehicles per year by 2020.