Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), a subsidiary of Indian automotive company Tata Motors, announced on Tuesday that its latest Land Rover Defender is to be assembled in Slovakia.
It is the second Land Rover model to be built in JLR's Slovakian plant. Production of the Land Rover Discovery model was recently moved to Nitra, Slovakia, which opened last October.
While the Defender engines will be built in England, the changes are part of a restructuring which includes the loss of some 4,500, mostly UK jobs.
It follows decisions by Japanese carmakers Nissan and Honda to curb investment and stop some production in the UK.
The Land Rover Defender being tested in Kenya
Fears of a no-deal Brexit
The UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) expressed concern for the industry should the UK leave the EU without a deal. "Should Britain crash out of the EU and fall back on WTO rules for a sustained period, (UK car) output is forecast to fall around 30% on recent levels to just 1.07 million units by 2021, a level consistent with the dark days of the mid-1980s," the SMMT said in a release on Tuesday.
The SMMT said that car production had declined for the tenth month in a row. It had slumped 14% year-on-year to 126,000 units in March. The association has said a no-deal would ramp up costs and affect supply chains, while tariffs would undermine the sector's competitiveness.
VW car bodies being made in Bratislava, Slovakia
Making cars in Slovakia
The car industry in Slovakia generates 300,000 jobs, making it the largest employer in the country of 5.4 million people.
Germany's Volkswagen, South Korea's Kia and French carmaker Peugeot all operate in the central European state.
Production at Slovakia's four car plants rose to 1.08 million vehicles in 2018, and is expected to reach 1.15 million this year.
Worldwide, the auto industry has been hit by economic fears in China, and dwindling demand for diesel vehicles due to pollution concerns.
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The Great British car sell-off
Aston Martin: Where two British icons meet
A manufacturer of luxury sports cars since 1913, Aston Martin became a fully-fledged icon with James Bond’s 1964 film "Goldfinger." Bond’s car, the DB5, is often seen as one of the most beautiful in the world and Astons have appeared in six other Bond films. It plans to float on the London Stock Exchange this year. Bankrupt seven times, the company is expected to be valued at around €4.3 billion.
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The Great British car sell-off
Jaguar: Still purring
Jaguar is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a multinational car manufacturer headquartered in Coventry and owned by Indian company Tata Motors since 2008. It was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922 and has manufactured cars for the British Prime Minister and also holds royal warrants from Queen Elizabeth II. Ford sold both Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors.
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The Great British car sell-off
Triumph: Not all about winning, but it helps
The Triumph TR6 is a sports car built between 1968 and 1976 with the US market in mind. Some 86,249 of the 94,619 cars built were exported to the US. The TR6 is often regarded with affection by its devotees as the last of the "hairy chested" British two-seat sports convertibles.
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The Great British car sell-off
Rolls-Royce: The 'best car in the world'
A survey in 1987 showed that only Coca-Cola was a more widely known brand than Rolls-Royce, a luxury car established in 1904. WWI saw the company branch into aero engines, where it still flourishes. Rolls-Royce faced troubled times after WWII and was nationalized until 1987 when the government sold it to the public. The new Rolls-Royce Phantom starts at about €400,000 ($400,000).
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The Great British car sell-off
Morris Minor: Quintessentially English
The Morris Minor started production in 1948. Over 1.6 million were made between 1948 and 1972 in three series and it became the first British car to sell over one million units. Some consider it a classic example of automotive design and typifying "Englishness."
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The Great British car sell-off
Lotus: A thing of brutal beauty
Lotus Cars makes sports cars, including the Esprit, Elan, Europa, Elise, Exige and Evora. Based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a WWII airfield, Lotus builds light weight race and production automobiles. In 2017, Geely took a 51-percent controlling stake in Lotus and the remainder belongs to Etika Automotive. Ex-French Prime Minister Francois Fillon with a 1956 Lotus Elan above.
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The Great British car sell-off
Range Rover: A modern auto icon
The Land Rover Range Rover (known simply as a Range Rover) is a luxury sport utility vehicle made by Land Rover. The Range Rover was launched in 1970 by British Leyland and the model is now in its fourth generation. Above is the Range Rover Long Wheel Base Autobiographic Black trim model, of which only 25 Vallorie white editions exist in the US and go for $199,000 (€170,000).
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The Great British car sell-off
Morgan: Patience is a virtue
The Morgan Motor Company is a family-owned car manufacturer founded in 1910 and based in Malvern Link in Worcestershire. Employing 177 people, Morgan produces 1,300 cars per year, all by hand, with wood used in their construction for over a century. The waiting list to buy a Morgan is about six months and has been as long as ten years.
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The Great British car sell-off
Land Rover: The Queen’s ride
Land Rover is a car brand that specializes in four-wheel-drive vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, which has been owned by India's Tata Motors since 2008. The Land Rover is another British icon and was granted a Royal Warrant by King George VI in 1951.
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The Great British car sell-off
London Cab: Hail the master
'Hackney' is derived from the village name Hackney, a part of London. The word was once thought to be an anglicized derivative of French haquenée — a horse of medium size. The first documented hackney coach operated in London in 1621. The New York City colloquial terms "hack" (taxi or taxi-driver), hackstand (taxi stand), and hack license (taxi license) are probably derived from hackney carriage.
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The Great British car sell-off
MGB: Sports car personified
The MGB is a two-door sports car manufactured and marketed by the British Motor Corporation (BMC), later British Leyland, first made in 1962.
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The Great British car sell-off
Mini: Size isn’t everything
In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T and ahead of the Citroën DS and Volkswagen Beetle. The original is considered an icon of 1960s British popular culture and influenced a generation of car makers. BMW bought the Rover Group (formerly British Leyland) in 1994 and sold a majority of it in 2000.
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The Great British car sell-off
Austin: An underrated classic
The Austin Motor Company Limited was a manufacturer of motor vehicles founded in 1905. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limited and the Austin name was used until 1987. The trademark is currently owned by SAIC after being transferred from bankrupt subsidiary Nanjing Automotive which acquired it with MG Rover Group in 2005.
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The Great British car sell-off
Bentley: Class on wheels
Bentley Motors Limited is a manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. It has been a subsidiary of Volkswagen since 1998. Headquartered in Crewe, the company was founded in 1919 in London and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, and 2003. Some are assembled at Volkswagen's Dresden factory. Still a signifier of sophistication.
Author: Jo Harper
kw/jm (AFP, Reuters)
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