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JORDAN |
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Land Rover makes a strategic all-weather investment |
The investment of 100 million dollars was made in partnership with the Jordanian group, Shaheen Business and Investment Group. The production unit is an assembly facility which will import the different parts of the vehicles directly from the United Kingdom . Initially, the annual production capacity is 5,000 cars and the Land Rover Defender constitutes the only model assembled. In a second stage, the capacity is to be increased to 10,000 vehicles per annum and new models will be added to the catalogue, including the Freelander and the Discovery. At least 500 new employment opportunities, including 100 for engineering positions, are expected from this investment.
The Jordanian partner, the Shaheen Business and Investment Group, alone contributes the capital of the company, while Land Rover brings its know-how and managerial, technical and logistical support. Shaheen Business and Investment Group is one of the large Jordanian conglomerates and, through its subsidiary, the Ole Automotive Trading Company, it was already the exclusive distributor for Land Rover vehicles in the Kingdom.
At the outset, BMW, the mother company of Land Rover was to be part of the project. After the sale of its shares in the British company to Ford, the German group pulled out of the project.
Until then, Land Rover sold all its vehicles throughout the Middle East region thanks to its local network of importers and distributors who imported the vehicles direct from the group's factory based in Solihull in England . According to Bill Begg, Land Rover's Regional Director for Middle East-Africa, the objective is to make Jordan a strategic supply centre for the rest of the region. |
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