Jaguar Land Rover to build huge car battery plant in triumph for Britain in major boost for UK’s motor industry

Britain is poised to triumph in the race to build a flagship battery plant for the owner of carmaker Jaguar Land Rover.

In what is being seen as a major boost for the UK’s motor industry, bosses at the Tata Group are understood to have chosen a site in Somerset ahead of a rival location in Spain.

The deal for the so-called gigafactory, which is expected to be announced this week, is set to be the most significant investment in Britain’s automotive industry since Nissan came to Sunderland in the 1980s.

Tata’s new site in Somerset is set to be the UK’s second battery plant at gigafactory scale, joining the Envisionplant in Sunderland, which supplies Nissan.

Jonathan Reynolds MP, Labour’s shadow Business Secretary, said the decision ‘shows the strength of the UK automotive industry’. But he claimed Labour would go further by investing in eight gigafactories by 2030.

Britain is poised to triumph in the race to build a flagship battery plant for the owner of carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (File image)

Labour’s Darren Jones MP, chair of the cross-party Business and Trade Committee, said JLR’s investment in UK battery production was ‘very welcome’ – although he questioned how much support Indian conglomerate Tata will receive from British taxpayers.

It was previously reported that up to £500million could be handed in government grants to help Tata construct the site close to the M5 motorway in Bridgwater and cover future energy costs.

Tata and the Business Department both declined to comment due to the deal’s ‘commercial sensitivity’.

Conservative MP Simon Clarke said on social media that it was a ‘huge statement of intent about our commitment to the car industry’.

In what is being seen as a major boost for the UK’s motor industry, bosses at the Tata Group are understood to have chosen a site in Somerset ahead of a rival location in Spain (File image) 

Colin Walker, head of transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: ‘The construction of this battery factory is vital if the UK’s car industry is to move with the times, continue to employ tens of thousands of people, and generate billions in export income.

‘And it’s what the public wants. 53pc of those polled by the ECIU back the £500million package that the Government has offered to enable its construction in the UK, with only 27pc opposing it.

‘After all, renewable energy and clean technology is the sector the public believes is most likely to create long-term growth for the UK economy.’