Jaguar Land Rover to create 1,000 jobs at plant in Solihull

In a rare piece of good news for the UK economy, Jaguar Land Rover announced it would create more than 1,000 jobs at its plant in Solihull in the West Midlands.

Less than two months after announcing plans to create 750 new jobs by setting up a low-emissions engines plant near Wolverhampton, the Indian-owned car maker said it would hire additional staff to boost production of the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Discovery and Defender marques at its Solihull site.

The move by the Tata-owned group provides further evidence that, despite the slowdown in the UK market following the ending of the government-backed scrappage scheme, domestic car production is performing well. This is because emerging markets such as China, Russia and India are demanding premium vehicles, such as the Mini, while demand from the US is also picking up.

The new jobs will increase Solihull's 5,000-strong workforce by about a fifth and, not surprisingly, human resources director Des Thurlby "expects to receive many thousands of applications".