The United Kingdom-based Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors, is to open its first U.S. “Works Centre” in Savannah in the summer of 2019.
Gov. Nathan Deal announced the new operation hub of Jaguar Land Rover Classics on Aug. 15, saying that the facility is to create 75 jobs at its location near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport and the Port of Savannah in Chatham County.
The proposed 75,000 square foot facility including a state-of-the art 42 bay workshop and showroom, is to serve as Jaguar Land Rover Classics’ North American headquarters and is to provide sales as well as comprehensive vehicle health checks, service and repairs for all Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles out of production for a decade or more.
While officials indicated that if the Georgia facility is a success, a centre could follow on the West Coast of the U.S., but in view of real estate and labor costs there, Georgia most likely would remain the site for restoration and rebuild work.
Tim Hannig, Jaguar Land Rover Classic director, said in a release that the company is taking “an important and exciting step…to bring the future-proofing classic expertise and support we’ve nurtured in the U.K. direct to U.S. clients.”
Trip Tollison, president and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Association (SEDA), said that the facility’s high-wage jobs and investment “will make an immediate impact on our region.”
The first Jaguar Land Rover Classic Centre opened in July 2017 on the outskirts of Coventry, U.K. The second centre opened in Essen-Kettwig, Germany, in May 2018,
Jaguar Land Rover has been a subsidiary of Tata Motors since it acquired Jaguar Cars Limited and Land Rover from Ford in 2008. Their operations were merged in 2013 and the parent was renamed Jaguard Land Rover Automotive PLC.
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