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New XJ Takes Centre Stage as Business Leaders Debate Future of UK Automotive Manufacturing

On Thursday 30th July, Richard Lambert, Director General of the CBI, was guest speaker at an event at Unipart Group’s headquarters at Cowley, Oxford, that brought together some of the region's leading business people to discuss the importance, and future, of automotive manufacturing in the UK.

Over 70 business people attended the event which also featured presentations from Unipart's Group Chief Executive, John Neill; Mike Wright, Director Customer Services, Jaguar Cars; and Ian Callum, Design Director, Jaguar Cars. The evening culminated in a special presentation of Jaguar’s brand new, top of the range executive car, the XJ, which has been praised by the media as “a seductive combination of striking design, breathtaking performance and advanced engineering”.

John Neill commented:

“Professor Dan Jones – the man who launched Lean to the world – described the automotive industry as “the most complex organisation of human endeavour on the planet”. The new Jaguar has been designed, developed, engineered and manufactured in the UK, and is a powerful demonstration of Britain’s ability to compete on the global stage.

“We value all our customer relationships very highly but the relationship with Jaguar is very special. We are the only business partner trusted with the most sensitive information about their brand new cars years before they come to market and then we work together to ensure that where ever those cars need parts anywhere in the world for the rest of their lives, we can deliver genuinely world leading standards of service."

To view the presentations, please click on the video icons in the right hand column.

To view images taken of the event, please click on the photo icons below.