Jaguar Land Rover has today (August 16) announced it is recruiting 300 new technicians and test engineers in the West Midlands.

The roles will be split across electric vehicles and the production of Range Rovers.

JLR says 100 maintenance technicians will be recruited for its Solihull plant to run a new body shop costing around £130 million. 

The body shop is hoped to increase Range Rover and Range Rover Sport production by 30 per cent.

Technicians will also be trained to work on a £70 million new body production system to support production of the new electric Range Rover at Solihull.

The other 200 jobs will be for technicians and test engineers to be based at the Gaydon Engineering Centre and Whitley Powertrain facility, where they will help develop of JLR's next generation electric vehicles.

Executive director of industrial operations Barbara Bergmeier said: ''Solihull and Gaydon are at the heart of our global operations and these roles are an opportunity for talented individuals to be part of our transformation to electrification.

"I am extremely excited to welcome a new cohort of individuals to develop their skills and join our family of proud creators of some of the most desirable modern luxury vehicles.''

JLR is investing £15 billion over five years in its industrial footprint, vehicle programmes, autonomous, AI and digital technologies and people skills.

This includes investment in manufacturing at Solihull, Wolverhampton and Halewood to produce electric vehicles. 

The next electric vehicles to launch will be the new Range Rover BEV, for which pre-order books open later this year.

This will be followed by the first of three electric Jaguars, which will be a four-door GT built in Solihull.