Strong demand growth in China has prompted premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to announce the creation of 800 new jobs at its factory in the West Midlands.
The news comes as the firm reported record global sales in 2012, with 357,773 vehicles being sold, up in every major market due to new model introductions and update programmes. Global retail sales were up 36%.
Chinese sales surged by 71% to 71,940 in 2012 and the region is now JLR's largest market. It is followed by the UK which recorded 68,333 vehicle sales, up 19% year-on-year, the US (55,675, up 11%), Russia (20,549, up 43%) and Germany (16,722 up 41%).
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"2012 has been a strong year for Jaguar Land Rover with record breaking sales performance globally," said Phil Popham, JLR's Director of Group Sales Operations at the North American International Motor Show in Detroit.
"All of our key markets saw strong progress, with demand for our premium vehicles setting new records in a very competitive environment," he said.
JLR, owned by Tata of India, said that it will "continue to implement its ambitious plans for growth" as it announced a recruitment campaign to create 800 new jobs in the UK at its manufacturing plant in Solihull.
The group recently confirmed a £370m investment programme for the site which includes the installation of a new aluminium body shop for the all-new Range Rover as well as upgrades to paint-applications technologies, trim assembly, warehousing and JLR's first customer handover centre.
"Looking ahead to 2013, we are continuing to invest in our business to support our ambitious plans for growth and we will be introducing eight new or refreshed products throughout the year," Popham said.
The company has hired 8,000 people over the last two years and now employs 25,000 around the world.
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