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New Small Jaguar to be Built at Halewood

6 January 1998

New Small Jaguar to be Built at Halewood

    MAHWAH, N.J., Jan. 6 -- Jaguar announced that it is to
proceed with its plan to produce a new, smaller, luxury sports saloon -- code-
named X400 -- to compete with the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes C-Class.
Subject to the satisfactory outcome of discussions with the United Kingdom
government on grants, the new car will be built at Halewood on Merseyside,
U.K.
    Announcing the decision, Jaguar Chairman and Chief Executive Nick Scheele
said: "This is excellent news for Jaguar. Over the course of the next four
years we will progress from being a company with just two model lines selling
45,000 cars a year to being a full-line, four-model premium-automobile
manufacturer producing 200,000 vehicles each year."
    Halewood's Vehicle Operations Plant will become a Jaguar plant prior to
commencement of X400 production.  The new X400 is scheduled for launch in
2001.  Jaguar's mid-sized luxury car -- the X200 -- will be built at Castle
Bromwich, Birmingham, England, and will debut early in 1999.
    Mr. Scheele said that the Jaguar Board accepted the recommendation of the
X400 Study Team that the company go ahead with the new-car programme.  It
further accepted the specific recommendation that the new car be built at
Halewood, Merseyside, in the northwest of England, subject to a satisfactory
outcome of grant discussions.
    "We are currently in discussion with the U.K. Government about possible
grant aid for the project and we are hopeful of a positive outcome to these
discussions within the next few weeks," Mr. Scheele said.
    He continued: "Our preference, naturally, was to build the car in the
United Kingdom, and I regret that we were not able to produce an affordable
investment proposition to make the new car at our plants in the West Midlands,
but I am very pleased that we will be going to Halewood.
    "Over the past four months we carefully studied potential manufacturing
locations in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States," Mr. Scheele
said. "Each was assessed from a business case perspective and after thorough
analysis we believe that Halewood can produce the car at the right cost and at
the right quality."
    Ian McAllister, chairman and managing director of Ford of Britain, said:
"Jaguar completed a great deal of analysis before identifying Halewood as its
choice for the new car.  I am confident that all employees in Halewood Body
and Assembly Operations will meet the challenge of building this exciting
new product."
    The new Jaguar will be designed and developed at the Jaguar Engineering
Centre at Whitley in Coventry, England.  Additional engineers are being
recruited to work on the new model.
    Ford's Multi Activity Vehicle (MAV), which was originally planned to be
built at Halewood early next century, now will be produced at another Ford
plant.  The transmission plant at Halewood will continue as a Ford plant.

SOURCE  Jaguar Cars