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|---|---|
| JLR to build new Land Rover Defender in Slovakia | JLR to build new Land Rover Defender in Slovakia |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will build its next-generation Land Rover's Defender 4x4 in Slovakia rather than the UK. | Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will build its next-generation Land Rover's Defender 4x4 in Slovakia rather than the UK. |
| The current Defender model was built at the firm's Solihull factory near Birmingham until 2016. | The current Defender model was built at the firm's Solihull factory near Birmingham until 2016. |
| The firm says the new model has been designed and engineered in the UK and its new engines built in Wolverhampton. | The firm says the new model has been designed and engineered in the UK and its new engines built in Wolverhampton. |
| JLR also says it plans "significant investment" at Solihull to support the production of its next generation of Range Rover and Land Rover models. | JLR also says it plans "significant investment" at Solihull to support the production of its next generation of Range Rover and Land Rover models. |
| Final testing | |
| In January 2016, some 67 years of the 4x4 being made at Solihull came to an end. | In January 2016, some 67 years of the 4x4 being made at Solihull came to an end. |
| More than two million were made in the West Midlands since the original Land Rover Series began production in Solihull in 1948. | More than two million were made in the West Midlands since the original Land Rover Series began production in Solihull in 1948. |
| The new Defender will be built at the company's £1bn plant in Nitra in Slovakia, which opened in October 2018. | The new Defender will be built at the company's £1bn plant in Nitra in Slovakia, which opened in October 2018. |
| The new model is expected to be unveiled later this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show and to go on sale early in 2020. | The new model is expected to be unveiled later this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show and to go on sale early in 2020. |
| JLR says the 2020 Defender is now entering its final phase of testing. | JLR says the 2020 Defender is now entering its final phase of testing. |
| 'British design' | |
| James Attwood is deputy editor at Autocar magazine, and says there had been little prior expectation that the new vehicle would be built in the UK. | |
| "Reading between the lines it always looked like it would be built in Slovakia, particularly after they [JLR] had invested such a large sum in their new plant there," he says. | |
| "But it is still very much a British design. And, of the range of engines that are going to be built for the new vehicle, a number are going to be built in the UK." | |
| He adds: "Jaguar and Land Rover already make a number of cars in other countries and they are still very much seen as British cars." |