A new centre will be opened by Jaguar Land Rover in Hungary next year, it has been revealed.
The new centre from JLR is set to create 100 new jobs.
The centre will be created in Budapest, and is set to open in early-2019.
CoventryLive, our sister title, reports engineers in Budapest will work alongside Jaguar Land Rover’s supply chain located in Europe.
They will support the launch of vehicles into the company’s global manufacturing locations.
JLR Solihull plant's two-week shutdown
Nick Rogers, executive director of product engineering said: "Hungary has a strong track record in automotive engineering.
"We have chosen it as the location for a new engineering office to enable close collaboration with our suppliers located in central and Eastern Europe.
"The team in Budapest will complement the suppliers and supplier technical assistance that we already partner with in the region, as well as our teams in the UK."
Péter Szijjártó, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Hungary Government said: "Today’s announcement by Jaguar Land Rover marks a new chapter in the Hungarian automotive industry as we welcome a new premium OEM to our country.
"The decision of the UK’s largest automotive manufacturer to open a technical engineering office in Budapest reaffirms our foreign direct investment strategy and in particular our specific focus on high quality automotive-related growth."
Jaguar Land Rover has seen falling car sales as the company battles with uncertainty around Brexit and the fall in demand for diesel models.
The firm says sales plunged 13.2% to 129,887 vehicles for the three months to 30 September.
Workers at JLR's historic Castle Bromwich factory were told in mid-September that they're going to a three-day week until Christmas.
JLR is still the UK's largest car maker and reported revenues of £5.6bn - although the pre-tax loss was £90m on the back of lower sales.
The sales figures come on the back of a disappointing set of results in September.
The company reported total retail sales of 57,114 vehicles in September 2018, down 12.3% year-on-year despite what it described as “strong sales” for new models including the Range Rover Velar and the Jaguar I-Pace and E-Pace.
Sales in China declined by 46.2%, as ongoing market uncertainty resulting from import duty changes and continued trade tensions held back consumer demand.
Sales were down 0.8% in the UK and 4.7% in Europe. In North America, Jaguar Land Rover sales were 6.9% lower, although Land Rover had a record September with sales up 7.3%
JLR said strong sales of new models - including the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace, the Jaguar E-Pace compact SUV and Range Rover Velar - helped offset slower sales of older models, such as the Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport.
JLR has currently stopped production at plants in the West Midlands, beginning with a two-week shut-down at the Solihull plant last week.
The Jaguar Land Rover two-week production shutdown commenced on Monday, October 22.
Hundreds of agency staff have been stood down during this period while some JLR-contracted employees are enjoying time off with full pay, it was reported.
The luxury car giant announced the sudden fortnight closure of its Lode Lane plant in Solihull earlier this month.
In a previous letter, agency staff were told that JLR had experienced "poor sales during September".
A video explaining the shutdown can be viewed at the top of this page.
JLR has blamed lower sales in China for the decline.
Uncertainty in Europe over diesel and Brexit has also contributed, the company added.
JLR is launching a "far-reaching" cost-cutting programme to improve profitability as a result, it says.
Jaguar Land Rover CEO Dr Ralf Speth says the company is already taking action to reverse the losses. He said the firm has “launched far-reaching programmes to deliver cost and cashflow improvements.
“Together with our ongoing product offensive and calibrated investment plans, these efforts will lay the foundations for long-term sustainable, profitable growth.”
“In JLR, market conditions, particularly in China, have deteriorated further,” Tata Motors chairman N Chandrasekaran told media.
He added: “To weather this volatile external scenario, we have launched a comprehensive turnaround plan to significantly improve our free cash flows and profitability.”
