With the rise of JLR production abroad I am curious to know how many owners would still buy a JLR vehicle if it wasn't built here in the UK

I buy them because I think they're great vehicles but also because in some small way the second biggest thing I spend my hard earned cash on contributes to the UK economy

Quote:

Union leaders are concerned about the impact an East European plant could have on UK JLR jobs.

Union leaders are calling for urgent talks with luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) over concerns about job security at its UK plants, including Halewood.

Quote:

“But we are concerned about plans to open a plant in Eastern Europe which could build up to 200,000 cars a year.”

Halewood employs 4,500 staff and is working around the clock building the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

Mr Maddison said JLR is currently building a total of 462,000 vehicles a year in its UK plants, but it is aiming to be in a position to be able to make between 1.2 million and 1.5 million vehicles a year.

The union understands that JLR has narrowed down its choice of possible locations in Eastern Europe to four: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

A final choice will probably depend on the amount of financial support offered by potential host countries.

twisted will be importing defender parts from India soon, a bit different in their case as they practically take the cars (? carts? ) apart before rebuilding.
without a supply of defenders twisted will be in trouble.
they ordered 250 of the last defenders but I believe LR UK cant supply all of these, defiantly no more after the 250. same story with 'bespoke' a Harrogate based cart re-manufacturer At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Why are you concerned about a vehicle built abroad?

I say buy Chinese vehicles, because then all the parts are originals...

Across the forums I'm seeing the majority of owners would buy an import

Sadly I fear the accountants will run the UK down in favour of cheaper jobs in Eastern Europe and more profit - one things for sure they won't get cheaper for us the buyer and if production increases from 460 000 units to 1.2/1.5 million quality won't improve either looking at the German marques

I voiced my concerns on here when TaTa took over and it gives me no pleasure appearing to be right

I just hope the people at Whitley, Gaydon, Halewood and Solihull who have made JLR great again carry on creating much needed revenue and jobs for the uk

I'll keep buying while production remains here  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

alex_pescaru wrote:

Why are you concerned about a vehicle built abroad?

I say buy Chinese vehicles, because then all the parts are originals...

Very true - and it's all cheap

I'm concerned because I have 3 minions I would like to see grow up in a country with something to export and job prospects. "Great" Britain used to have "Great" engineering but it's nearly all gone - Airbus are talking of leaving, JLR are opening more factories abroad than here now, call centres are abroad.......... etc

My cousin worked his way up in oil exploration engineering. He kept getting made redundant by firms who were undercut by China and India. The parts were inferior and failed frequently but by the time anyone realized the companies were gone and it was too late. He moved to Airbus and is now doing very well - in France! I know someone else left school and trained with BAE - after spending most of his life there he got made redundant so had to retrain and find another career.

Pretty soon the only revenue left will be traffic safety cameras and taxes but without industry not sure how anyone will pay it  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

It is highly unlikely that all production will go abroad, most car manufacturers have multi country factories, some build cars some assemble cars, some supply components. I believe the Mini engine is built in Brazil though the car is pressed and assembled here. There are rumours the new BMW 1 series will be built on a Mini floor pan ( without the expensive design to make it look small we may well see the true size of a Mini) Perhaps it will be built over here. I would suggest there will be another engine plant to build JLR engines as the Ford ones in the larger cars are phased out possibly in eastern Europe. Most companies will cover their backs regarding the rise in the £ Vs € and the possibility of the EU breaking up, Greece if it goes won't be the last. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

muddywheels,
True what you say, but that's capitalism...

Have you thought about the fact that the Chinese people (now that I've mentioned them before) want to buy a Land Rover because many afford now. But the import taxes are enormous, so they reconsider about the car brand...
But the buyers are so many and the sound of currency is so nice in the eye of LR management....
And then LR makes a strategic move and build a factory right there.
But hey, they soon realize that they can build a car with much less money than building it in Europe.
And guess what ?....
Beat that if you can....

Whilst I would love to see every JLR vehicle built in UK and exported I'm a realist so I accept this would be great for UK but never going to work

I will still happily buy if I can get a UK built vehicle. They can build abroad for the global market if it keeps the brand alive. I've visited Gaydon a few times now and seen the investment - long may it continue

When TaTa bought JLR I said I hope they don't move production abroad because it's cheaper and we lose another British manufacturer. If they do it will raise profits but not lower prices and will not raise quality/reliability - the Germans have already gone there and dropped down the league tables since  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

I would be careful about pushing the great British engineering line too far, I am old enough to remember that it was the Japanese that showed us how to build quality and reliable products. Remember British Leyland and how the like of Datsun showed us that cars could actually be reliable?
I worked in the 70's for a major British computer company and we used to think it was good if our systems ran for 8 hours (yes hours!) without a failure, then we stopped building our own electronics and started importing components from likes of Fujitsu. The transformation was unbelievable both for us and our customers.

A similar thing happened when BMW took over the FL1s. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Well in the last 15 years I've been buying British built vehicles and they have all been better than the Toyota Landcruiser I had in the late 90's so I'll stick to my guns

Why do people keep comparing British Manufacturing today to BL and the likes - happens all the time and I just don't get it - things have moved on - we had an outside toilet back then so why would I compare that to the en-suite I have now  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

If the Eastern Europeans can bolt one together better then I see no problem with having one.

British engineering ain't that brilliant

LR great products poor build quality, to be fair my DS seems pretty well screwed together. Though some owners are having serious problems with JLRs lack of quality control.

In my day job as a bus/coach drive it's the same

Plaxton poor build quality £250k for a coach and 2years down the line they still can't fix leaking emergency exits. An embarrassment to Volvo, on which they are bodied. Better with the Belgian Van Hools

Alexander Dennis, well, I won't even go there. Again better with the Irish built Geminis from Wright bus.

Back to JLR, the factories here are bursting at the seems, they aren't moving out of the UK altogether just easing the the stress of the UK factories. 21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

It's funny how everyone seems to overlook the fact that JLR are already assembling vehicles outside of the UK.

Yes the new plant in China is a big deal. But cars built in China for Chinese customers is no problem, the main reason for this is to get around the horrific import tarriffs, and make JLR more appealing to those Chinese customers. Same for cars built in India for Indian customers.

Some XJ's, XF's and Freelanders are already assembled in Pune, India.

Freelanders also assembled in Aqaba, Jordan.

I personally would never buy a Jag or Land Rover that was build in India or China, but I don't think i'll ever have to, unless I happen to move to one of those countries.

The news about Magna Steyr doing contract manufacturing for JLR, is also interesting. (MS built a lot of cars for the big brands over the years, even Aston Martin).

If JLR sets up a plant in America, it will build cars that are sold in that region, so again no issue to me personally. I don't think the BMW X5 owners in the US care (or even realise) that their car was build locally, not in Germany.

Assembling cars in Eastern Europe and selling them back to the UK, or to "western" Export markets will probably not go down too well, unless the price is dramatically lower. Selling Eastern-European built cars for the same price as UK-built ones, in the buyers eyes he'd feel a little ripped off.

Just my opinion. 2008 Freelander 2 HSE Si6 Black/Black - Hers
2009 Jaguar XKR 4.2 S/C Portfolio
2005 Jaguar XJR 4.2 S/C Black/Cranberry
2005 Jaguar X-Type 3.0L AWD - Gone

I wonder whether another manufacturer would have done something about the drive train issues on the FL2 during it's production run? Clearly there is a design or component quality issue which hasn't really been addressed. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE