Jaguar Land Rover To Launch New R&D Facility in UK

Jaguar Land Rover, as a part of its future plans for advanced research and development will bring a new cutting-edge 30000 square meters technology, innovation and education center – National Automotive Innovation Campus (NAIC) at the University of Warwick. The new center will augment its existing centers in Gaydon and Whitley.

The centre will provide large scale research collaboration between academicians, researchers, JLR engineers. The 50 million pound project will see contributions from Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC), WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) and the UK Government’s Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE). The centre is a result of the JLR’s long-standing and fruitful relationship with WMG at the University of Warwick.

jaguar_logo

The centre will be built from September, 2014 and will become operational by 2016. Nearly 200 employees in the current research facility will be beefed up to 500 by 2016 and is expected to reach around 1000 when it attains full functionality. The new centre, headed by Dr. Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology of JLR, will use its technical powers to bring electric hybrid, smart & connected cars with Human Machine Interface – that can pave way for a low-carbon future.

Dr. Wolfgang Epple quoting the importance of the centre for JLR’s growth and UK’s economy said

“Creating a new national focus for automotive research and consolidating Jaguar Land Rover’s growing research and advanced engineering operations in one centre offers us huge potential. With a critical mass of research capability we will put the UK at the very centre of the global automotive industry – with the NAIC at its hub.”

Riding on the success of the 2014 Range Rover the JLR group has posted a profit of 15.8 billion euros with huge profits coming from exports, JLR has become the largest exporter in UK. As a part of ambitious plan for sustainable growth and profitability 2.75 billion euros will go for research and development activities in 2014.

-by Saravana Priyan

Leave a Comment