Britain

Britain’s car industry may never be able to boost the level of local content to over half in its cars to meet the standards set in some bilateral trade agreements, the chief executive of the country’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover told Reuters. Only around 40 percent of the parts that go into the average British-built car are made domestically and some trade deals require between 50 and 55 percent local content, a factor which could be crucial for post-Brexit trade.

Britain is accelerating away from its European competitors in the car-making sector with investment flowing into the factories of Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover as Chinese and American demand drives sales. Jaguar Land Rover said on Tuesday it was pumping £1.5 billion (1.8 billion euros, $2.4 billion) into its plant in Solihull near Birmingham, creating 1,700 jobs and giving a welcome fillip to industrial central England. The Solihull plant will make new lightweight Jaguar and Land Rover models made of aluminium. In northeast England, Nissan has been granted permission to extend its already vast plant in Sunderland, securing jobs in an area where major employers are in short supply. The investment decision was announced at the Frankfurt Motor Show by JLR chief executive Ralf Speth, who said it was “further evidence of our commitment to advancing the capability of the UK […]