Jaguar Land Rover launched production in its new €1.4bn plant in Nitra

British car maker Jaguar Land Rover launched production in its new €1.4bn plant in Nitra on Thursday. The plant employs 1,500 workers, of whom 98% are from Slovakia. Next year, it plans to make 150,000 cars of the Land Rover Discovery model (previously, these were made in the British plant in Solihull). By the end of 2020, the plant aims to double both its production capacity and workforce. The plant will lift the growth pace of the Slovak economy next year, and increase the automotive sector’s share of industrial production and exports from the current 35% and 40% respectively.

The state provided a €129m direct investment stimulus, and spent another €500m on the industrial park. It expects to recoup the investment in ten years in taxes and payroll levies paid by the plant and its employees. The park’s construction was extraordinary costly, as it is located on former marshland and needed expensive flood protection measures. ,

(HN/1)