CAR production has returned to the old Peugeot factory site at Ryton where Jaguar Land Rover has set up a new plant.
JLR has established a Special Vehicle Operation unit at the former Peugeot site as part of a £22million investment. Around 250 workers will be based there.
It sees the return of car production to the site for the first time in a decade.
It is now ten years since the devastating closure of the Peugeot plant after decades, with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs.
The unit will make luxury cars to order, and add specialist parts to models with a bespoke service, fitting parts that cannot be added at dealerships.
It is understood specialist cars like a lightweight E-type Jaguar will also be made at the Ryton plant.
Since the Peugeot factory’s closure, the giant site has seen warehousing and other businesses move in while other parts of the site have been unoccupied.
The investment is in addition to JLR’s plans to expand its Whitley headquarters, potentially creating thousands more jobs.
Coventry city councillor Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, used to work at the Peugeot plant where he was also a union convener.
He said: “It goes to show that a company can go from strength to strength when it invests.
“A year before Peugeot’s closure, JLR closed its Browns Lane plant. I recently visited JLR’s site at Whitley and it’s amazing how many people are now on site there.
“It shows a company who invests and develops good products can attract customers all over the world.”
The government recently said it did not intend to intervene on planning grounds in JLR’s council-backed plans to expand its Whitley office and research and development HQ, which includes on green belt land towards the A45 and Coventry airport.
