JLR to build cars in Saudi?
Jaguar Land Rover signs letter of intent with KSA government
By Shahzad Sheikh
We would have ‘stopped the presses’ for this story, except that that’s so last century. We’re now firmly in a new millennium – one that sees august British brands now owned by a former colony, and talk of a possible production plant in the Middle East, and in Saudi Arabia of all places! It’s worth mentioning at this point that there is no car manufacturing industry in the GCC worth speaking of at this juncture in time.
According to the press release Azzam Yaser Shalabi the President of the National Industrial Clusters Development Program (NICDP) Saudi Arabia and Dr Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer formally signed a Letter of Intent yesterday paving the way for an automotive partnership in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Ralph Speth - CEO of JLR
JLR and Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Clusters Development Program (NICDP) will now begin a detailed feasibility study together, to determine the viability of setting up an automotive facility – yes, like you, I read that as meaning ‘assembly plant’.
This is further confirmed by Dr Speth’s remarks: ‘We are committed to further international partnerships to meet record demand for our highly sought after vehicles. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an attractive potential development option, complementing our existing advanced facilities in Britain and recent manufacturing plans to expand in other countries including India and China.’
It’s early days yet, but considering that JLR are using a lot of aluminium in the construction of its cars, it’s significant that the world’s largest integrated aluminium complex, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Company and Alcoa of the US, is due to begin production in 2014 at the Ras Al Khair facility.
Eng. Azzam Yaser Shalabi the President of NICDP with Dr. Ralph Speth
JLR must really be on the march right now, because this announcement follows with Chery in China to manufacture JLR cars at a new plant near Shanghai, and the company’s Indian plant in Pune is also set to be expanded.
That’s all down to a 32% increase in global sales as reported by the company (equating to 324,000 vehicles) up to the end of last month, with sales in our region jumping by over 9% to 11,418 units.
