Jaguar Land Rover has officially opened its upgraded Lode Lane plant in Solihull, the so-called ‘home of Land Rover’, where the new Jaguar XE saloon is being made on the same production line as the new Range Rover.

JLR was unable to use Jaguar’s home at Castle Bromwich to produce the XE because the plant there has insufficient capacity (it is currently producing the F-Type sports car, the XJ and the XF).

The company invited motor-racing legend Sir Stirling Moss and Jaguar ‘test driver extraordinaire’ Norman Dewis to conduct the opening ceremony. They were joined by Solihull operations director Alan Volkaerts and TV presenter Quentin Willson.

To mark the occasion, JLR organised a procession of classic and iconic models from Jaguar’s 80-year history (such as the SS1 Tourer, the XK120 and the E-Type). They joined the new XE model on a circuit of the Lode Lane plant.

Much of the £500 million investment at Lode Lane has gone into the new aluminium body shop, where 630 robots assemble the various panels that combine to produce the XE’s body shell.

The body shop will also be used to assemble the Jaguar crossover vehicle, the F-Pace, when it goes into full-time production. At full capacity, the body shop will be able to produce a completed body shell every 78sec. The new production facilities will eventually see 2,200 new employees taken on at Solihull, bringing the plant’s total workforce to more than 9,000.

John Edwards, managing director of JLR’s Special Operations division, said: “It is wonderful to see great cars from both Jaguar and Land Rover’s heritage helping us to celebrate the exciting new future at Solihull — even more so when they are joined by the future classics currently being made here, such as the Jaguar XE.”

Mr Volkaerts said: “It is facilities such as these that will help JLR achieve its long-term ambitions. Building cars is a tough business these days, and our competitors like to keep us on our toes, so our workers deserve a great deal of credit for what we have been able to achieve.

"We have also taken on a record number of apprentices; their fresh ideas will continue to make Solihull a better plant in the future.”