Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is making a significant investment of £65m ($81.10m) to upgrade its special paint facilities worldwide. This move comes in response to the growing demand for personalized luxury vehicles and the company’s commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its manufacturing processes.
In the last financial year, JLR has witnessed a substantial increase in customer interest for custom paint options, particularly for its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, with orders more than doubling since FY22.
The investment will involve the establishment of new paint facilities in Castle Bromwich, West Midlands, England, and Nitra, Slovakia. These facilities will enhance JLR’s capacity for Bespoke Paint and luxury elevated palette options, allowing for over 17,000 additional client orders annually. This expansion will also make exclusive paint colors available across other JLR brands for the first time.
Andrea Debbane, JLR’s chief sustainability officer, expressed the company’s focus on meeting the rising demand for vehicle personalization while ensuring sustainability and efficiency in its operations.
As part of the investment, £26m will be allocated to replace existing paint booths with advanced application booths at the Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) facilities in Castle Bromwich. These new booths will feature fully automated spray robots, expected to reduce paint waste by 30% compared to manual painting methods.
Additionally, a £10m investment will go towards a new universal paint line at JLR’s Nitra facility in Slovakia, where Defender and Discovery models are produced. This line will include a new fully electric paint booth and curing ovens, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 500mt annually. The universal paint line will offer unlimited color variations, with production expected to start in 2026.
In addition to the new facilities, JLR has implemented a Smart Oven control system and a new heat exchanger to improve operational efficiency. The system can automatically shut down during inactivity, while the heat exchanger recovers heat from flue gas, potentially saving around 2,250mt of CO2e per year.
Furthermore, JLR recently strengthened its partnership with Tata Communications to enhance its connected vehicle ecosystem through the Tata Communications MOVE platform.
This investment underscores JLR’s commitment to meeting customer preferences for personalized luxury vehicles while also advancing sustainability initiatives in its manufacturing processes.
