Jaguar Land Rover To Create 150 New Jobs In Shannon

Up to 150 new jobs are to be created by Jaguar Land Rover, who have announced plans to open a software engineering centre in Shannon.

The new facility will develop new technologies to support electrification and self-driving features on future Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

Nick Rogers, Executive Director of Product Engineering, said: "Technical innovation lies at the heart of Jaguar Land Rover and our innovation is continuous. The new facility provides an exciting opportunity for us to pioneer future autonomous and electrification technologies.

"The heart of our business will always be in the UK. The creation of a team in Shannon strengthens our international engineering capabilities and complements our existing team of more than 10,000 engineers based in the UK."

Supported by the Irish Development Agency, the Shannon team will start by developing the next generation of electrical architecture as well as exploring advanced driver assistance systems features for future vehicles.

Welcoming the announcement, Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen, said: "This is a great boost for Shannon, Co. Clare and the Midwest Region.

"Jaguar Land Rover are iconic brands which have endured through innovation and staying ahead of their competitors. This new software engineering centre will bring 150 new high quality jobs to Shannon. The region has much to offer with qualified and talented people and I wish Jaguar Land Rover and its team well in its endeavours."

Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland, added: "This is excellent news. Having a globally recognised company of such international standing will greatly enhance Shannon's reputation as a Centre of Excellence for such business.

"The 150 jobs will be of significant benefit to Clare and the Midwest region. Attracting investment into regional locations is a key focus for IDA Ireland and this project shows how the particular strengths of regional locations can be harnessed to attract investments. I wish Jaguar Land Rover every success."

As a part of this development, Jaguar Land Rover has agreed a partnership with online education provider Udacity, which specialises in courses such as automated driving, artificial intelligence, robotics and data analytics.

These courses will provide the skills to support Jaguar Land Rover's engineering capabilities and ongoing technological innovation.

Jaguar Land Rover is working towards a cleaner future and all new vehicle lines will be offered with the option of electrification from 2020, giving customers even more choice. It will introduce a portfolio of electrified products across the model range, embracing fully electric, plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid vehicles. The first fully electric performance SUV, the Jaguar I-PACE, goes on sale in 2018.

Jaguar Land Rover is developing fully and semi-automated driving technologies to offer customers a choice of an engaged or autonomous drive, while maintaining an enjoyable and safe driving experience.

The company's vision is to make automated driving viable in the widest range of real-life, on- and off-road environments and weather.

Jaguar Land Rover is looking for software engineers with experience in a range of disciplines such as artificial intelligence, safety critical systems and vehicle architecture.

(MH)