JLR Evoque plant now open 24 hours a day

Jaguar Land Rover’s Halewood plant in Merseyside has today switched to 24-hour production to meet demand for the hit Range Rover Evoque.

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The plant has taken on an additional eight hour shift, which means Evoques are produced across three shifts a day.

The move has led to the creation of 1,000 extra jobs – for which JLR received 6,000 applications.

The new third night shift starts tonight at 21.30: it means 4,500 workers are now employed at the Halewood plant, three times the number that were working there just three years ago. It takes JLR’s total UK workforce to more than 24,000.

Since production started in July 2011, Halewood has made 88,000 Evoques, which have been sold in more than 170 markets.  This model alone generates £2bn a year in export value for the UK.

In the last financial year, profits for Jaguar Land Rover rose 34% to £1.5bn. The Range Rover Evoque has been a key driver of this: securing the ability to produce more models will ensure JLR’s profits drive can continue.

It will also allow the firm to bring in extra models, which will mean new derivatives such as the Range Rover Evoque convertible that debuted at the Geneva Motor Show can in time be launched.

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For now, though, the new night shift will be solely focused on reducing the waiting list of the Evoque: it currently stands at more than six months.

“Moving production to three shifts and working 24 hours a day will allow us to significantly reduce the time a customer has to wait for their new Range Rover Evoque,” confirmed Halewood operations director Richard Else.