EU referendum: Car maker JLR backs Remain campaign
Jaguar Land Rover says EU membership will increase the car company's chances of growth and is backing the Remain campaign.
The company
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JLR, which has a major engine factory alongside the M54 close to the Shropshire border, says staying in the EU will create new jobs.
The company is also backing car industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, SMMT, which says 77 per cent of its members also favours remaining in the EU.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "UK Automotive is globally competitive, securing record levels of investment, creating tens of thousands of jobs annually and exporting to over 100 countries. We want this success to continue rather than jeopardise it by increasing costs, making our trading relationships uncertain and creating new barriers to our single biggest and most important market, Europe.
"Remaining will allow the UK to retain the influence on which the unique and successful UK automotive sector depends."
The SMMT says the UK's auto industry supports around 800,000 jobs and adds £15.5 billion a year to the economy. Around 80 per cent of cars made in the UK go abroad, with more than half of those exports destined for EU countries.
JLR employs around 1,000 workers at its i54 factory at junction two of the M54. It also supports thousands more jobs in supporting industries. Ken Gregor, chief financial officer of Jaguar Land Rover, said: "Remaining in the EU, our largest market, will increase Jaguar Land Rover's chances to grow, create jobs and attract investment in future technologies.
"Our European supply chain has been fundamental in helping us to meet customer expectations worldwide and achieve sustainable, profitable growth."
The Remain campaign is also being backed by bosses from Toyota, BMW and Vauxhall.
Nigel Stein, chief executive at GKN, based at Redditch and with factories in Telford and Birmingham, said the industry would see a real benefit remaining in the EU.
"A vote to leave will not mean manufacturing investment disappears overnight, but over time a UK outside the EU will be disadvantaged and will lose the investment it needs to maintain our industries," he said.
