Jaguar Land Rover could announce fresh round of UK investment in early March despite industry turmoil

Jaguar Land Rover is reportedly planning to buck the trend of car makers fleeing the UK by making a major investment in British advanced manufacturing.

The manufacturer, which is owned by Indian firm Tata, reportedly said fresh investment in the UK was imminent, and an announcement could come in early March.

Read more: Tata Motors’ share price tanks on Jaguar Land Rover losses

The news would be a welcome boost to British car manufacturing which has suffered a number of crushing blows in recent weeks, with Japanese giants Nissan and Honda both announcing plans to abandon the UK in February.

Sources close to the company and the government told the BBC that news of fresh investment in the UK was imminent.

In January, JLR itself said it was planning to cut 4,500 UK jobs in the next two years, pointing to the declining popularity of diesel engines which power most of its cars and a slump in its biggest market – China.

Indeed, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed sales of UK-made cars dropped 72 per cent in February compared with the same period in 2018, but sources at JLR told the BBC there were “green shoots of recovery” in the Chinese market.

Read more: Jaguar Land Rover confirms 4,500 job cuts

This comes alongside yesterday’s news that Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, the man who helped save Jaguar Land Rover from going under in the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis, has died.

Tributes poured in for manufacturing industry titan Bhattacharyya, whose personal friendship with Ratan Tata persuaded Tata to buy the British car company in 2008 for just £1.5bn.