Land Rover made headlines last week with the introduction of the all-new
2013 Range Rover, which boasts dramatic improvements in weight reduction, fuel economy, and advanced technology. To make construction of that possible, the automaker is going to invest $595 million in the Solihull, England plant outside of Birmingham that will build the new Range Rover.
The bulk of those resources are going towards a new aluminum body shop. The material, which is the largest single contributor to the new model's drastic weight loss, has different stamping and bonding properties than steel. The investment also included enhancements to the facility's paint, trim assembly, and warehousing facilities, as well as the company's first 'Customer Handover Centre' for new vehicle delivery.
In addition to the investment in the Solihull facility, the company has begun work on a $571 million engine plant near Wolverhampton, recently started
24-hour production at the Halewood plant that builds the Evoque, and launched assembly of Land Rover models in India, home base of JLR's parent company, Tata Motors.
Although likely to sell at much lower volumes than the more affordable Evoque, the company is hoping to replicate the smaller model's success with its new flagship.