Jaguar Land Rover officially opens its new manufacturing plant in Slovakia

Jaguar Land Rover has opened a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia, becoming the first UK automotive company to open a plant in the country.

Marking the latest step in the company’s global expansion strategy, after opening facilities in China and Brazil, the new 300,000m² plant will be capable of building more than 150,000 vehicles per year.

The plant will also incorporate a number of cutting-edge technologies including Europe’s first Kuka Pulse carrier system, which improves transfer times by more than 30% over conventional conveyance systems.

The Nitra site has also been future-proofed to allow Jaguar Land Rover to improve process efficiency, delivery and quality through using smart, connected manufacturing technologies, such as shop floor visualisation.

At the opening ceremony, Professor Dr. Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover CEO, said the Slovakia facility marks the latest milestone in the company’s globalisation programme.

“Our plant in Nitra will strengthen our manufacturing operations and complement existing facilities in the UK, China, Brazil, India and Austria,” he adds.

“I am delighted to officially welcome our Slovak team to the Jaguar Land Rover global family.”

Employing more than 1,500 people, our Slovak colleagues are supported by a network of suppliers who operate in close proximity to help make the Land Rover Discovery’s production as efficient as possible.

Alex Worstberg, Nitra's Chief Executive, said: “We’re starting with one model and one shift. We will start hiring for the second shift in November, that will be operational in the second half of next year. Annual capacity of 100,000 cars will be reached in 2020.”

Watch a video from the opening here.

View all the pictures from the opening of Nitra here.

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