Embattled Jaguar flogs off its real estate

JAGUAR has sold its spiritual home at Browns Lane in Coventry, central England, to construction industry supply company Delamar for an estimated $123 million.

Jaguar chief executive and former Ford Australia president Geoff Polites said last week that it was an important step in Jaguar’s recovery and the end of the first phase of its restructuring.

The sale ends more than 50 years production at the site.

Mr Polites would not be drawn on when he believed Jaguar would return to profitability.

Car production ended at Browns Lane last year, leaving 500 employees making wood and metal veneers for Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin interiors. This operation will be transferred to Jaguar’s Whitely site within 18 months.

In recent years the XK and XJ Jaguars have been built at Browns Lane. Production has been transferred to the nearby Castle Bromwich plant.