Jaguar Land Rover has been awarded ‘Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year’ at the 13th Annual Industry Awards, hosted by Bodyshop Magazine at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham. The awards recognise excellence in dealer bodyshops and repair centres.

Jaguar Land Rover triumphed over strong competition from other manufacturers to scoop the accolade. The award continues to reinforce the confidence held by the bodyshops, dealers and customers alike that Jaguar Land Rover is committed to being the best in vehicle repair and finish. The winners of the award were judged on criteria such as training, network development and customer satisfaction. The current and future strategies are also examined for soundness and to show the clarity of the direction the programme is heading towards.

Rob Harris, Jaguar Land Rover’s Business Development Manager said, “It is important that in the current climate such high standards within the business are recognised and rewarded. (…)

Jaguar Land Rover last night won two CIPD Guardian recruitment advertising awards for ‘Best Campaign’ and ‘Best Written’. Their victorious campaign features car parts designed to look like human body parts and was described by the judges as “a clever and stylish campaign featuring lovely art direction, well-written copy and a consistent message across various media.”

Different images of parts of the body, all created out of stylised car parts, linked the human side of the organisation with quality engineering. The judges considered this the best of a particularly strong set of finalists in the category.

A difficult category to win, Jaguar Land Rover’s entry shows that all the elements worked perfectly together, giving a clear message to job hunters and current staff alike. The judges said that where other campaigns were let down by detail – the winner is well thought through and creative, from the layout right through to the last word of the copy. (…)

Jaguar Land Rover China (JLR) today held an opening ceremony for its new Parts Distribution Centre in Suzhou. As the biggest Parts Distribution Centre for JLR in Asia Pacific, it will facilitate the expansion of sales and service network in the Chinese market and rapid response to the dealers and customers’ parts ordering in China. JLR China management members, government officials, representatives of partners and JLR dealers attended the event.

Located in Suzhou, the Parts Distribution Centre covers a combined total of over 11,000 m2 across the bonded and non bonded sites and houses the parts aftermarket Customer Service and Finance teams in addition to the inbound, warehousing, scheduling and distribution functions of the business. The Distribution Centre is capable of supporting 2,000 outbound lines per day. The business will support approximately 42,000 part numbers across the sites.

“Sales of our vehicles in China have been growing rapidly over recent years. (…)

Jaguar Land Rover was today named as a Top Employer by the UK’s leading work-life balance organisation, Working Families.

As part of Working Families 30th anniversary celebrations and coinciding with the UK’s National Family Week (25th – 29th May 2009), a list of the ‘best of the best employers over the past thirty years’ was drawn up following judging by an eminent panel. The charity supports and gives a voice to working parents and carers, whilst also helping employers create workplaces that encourage work-life balance.

Jaguar Land Rover was chosen because of its wide range of established policies to support working parents. (…)

Jaguar Land Rover’s Chief Executive Officer, David Smith, has urged immediate action by the Government to deliver the aid package promised to the UK’s automotive industry if serious industrial consequences are to be averted.
Addressing an audience that included the Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, at the CBI’s Manufacturing Dinner in Birmingham, Mr Smith welcomed the Government’s reaction to calls from the automotive sector for support while stressing the need to stimulate the market and the urgency of the situation facing manufacturers, suppliers and dealers.
“It would now be a tragedy were the aid package not to be delivered in time to avert the industrial consequences of another quarter like this one,” Mr Smith told the audience.
Mr Smith said tens of billions of support had been provided by the Germans, the French, the Swedes and the Americans for their automotive industries. (…)

Thank you, Lord Mandelson, for joining us tonight and for the effort you have made in recent weeks, championing within Government the cause of the car industry and the manufacturing sector as a whole.
But for all your good works, I know you know already, that we are not out of the woods yet.
So please feel free to leave that large bag of money under your table before you head back to London tonight…
Ladies and gentlemen, it is really my pleasure to speak to you this evening.
I have the privilege to run a major company from here in the West Midlands.
It also happens to be one of the UK’s leading global, high tech and successful companies.
These adjectives may surprise anyone whose knowledge of Jaguar Land Rover, or of the motor industry, has been formed solely by recent – sometimes hysterical - media coverage. (…)

Today, Jaguar Land Rover unveiled its new, environmentally advanced, Technical Academy for Jaguar and Land Rover dealer technicians and apprentices.
The Academy, in Warwick, coordinates and conducts all product and systems training for technical staff (principal service technicians) employed in the Jaguar Cars and Land Rover UK and international dealer networks. In addition, it operates one of the largest and most successful apprentice programmes in the UK automotive retail sector. Over the past decade, over 1,000 young people have participated in its advanced apprenticeship programme and in May 2008, The Academy became one of the first training providers in the UK to be awarded Training Quality Standard certification by the Learning & Skills Council.
The new Academy brings together training facilities previously based at Jaguar Land Rover’s design and engineering headquarters in Gaydon and manufacturing facilities at Castle Bromwich. (…)

Tata Motors today acquired the Jaguar Land Rover businesses from Ford Motor Company for a net consideration of US $2.3 billion, as announced on March 26, in an all-cash transaction. Ford has contributed about US $600 million to the Jaguar Land Rover pension plans.
Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Motors, was present at the handing over ceremony at the head quarters of Jaguar Land Rover at Gaydon in the UK along with Mr. Don Leclair, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ford Motor Company, and Mr. Lewis Booth, Executive Vice President of Ford Motor Company, who has responsibility for Ford of Europe, Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover.
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Tata said, “This is a momentous time for all of us at Tata Motors. Jaguar and Land Rover are two iconic British brands with worldwide growth prospects. We are looking forward to extending our full support to the Jaguar Land Rover team to realise their competitive potential. (…)

Jaguar Land Rover warmly welcomed the announcement of government funding to help speed up the development of technologies that will significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Department for Transport, through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform, have announced that 16 innovative development projects, worth over £52 million, will receive £23 million government investment through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform.
Jaguar Land Rover is involved in a number of the projects through partnerships with suppliers, government agencies, and universities.
The projects identified today are:
Range Extended Electric Vehicle REHEV
To develop a modular electric and electric/diesel powertrain, suitable for several different vehicle types. This will be tested on a large premium sport utility platform delivering 120 to 130 g/km CO2 and a zero emissions range of at least 12 miles. (…)