Jaguar Land Rover Set To Create 1500 Jobs With Merseyside Expansion

Jaguar Land Rover is set to create 1500 jobs by expanding its plant in Merseyside.

Unlike many other manufacturers, 2011 was a bumper year for the company who had to cut short their staff's Christmas break to cope with high demand for vehicles.

The Halewood plant, which produces the new Range Rover Evoque, is currently at full capacity and the expansion comes amid concerns of a downturn in the UK industry, however JLR have seen a surge in the want for products.

Jaguar Land Rover have seen year on year sales of the Evoque increase by 30%, largely due to demand in Asia - China in particular - and are said to be on the way to achieving record profits for the 2012 financial year and could make as much as £1.5bn.

The plans are believed to be in the early stages but the size of the plant could double if development begins on surrounding land; this could portray an investment of around £100m but this is yet to be confirmed.

The car makers have already hired thousands of employees over the past year to launch new models and is currently re-developing its Solihull factory. They have also confirmed the build of a £355m engine plant in Wolverhamption.

However, of the expansion, a spokesperson for JLR told The Daily Telegraph: 'JLR has not made any announcements about Halewood and we do not comment on speculation about possible future plans.'

The company are also said to be in talks with Chery Automobile, a chinese car maker about setting up a joint manufacturing venture.