Belfast-based Montupet wins order from Jaguar Land Rover

Montupet, a Canadian-owned car components manufacturer, has won an order from Jaguar Land Rover which will result in a £7 million (€8.3m) injection for its Belfast plant and safeguard more than 40 jobs from 2019.

The Dunmurry plant on the outskirts of Belfast, which employs 600, has won a contract to manufacturer a new cylinder head for Jaguar Land Rover.

Montupet said the order was a testimony to its Dunmurry plant’s ability to compete in the global automotive market “while remaining economically competitive”.

John McMichael, managing director of Montupet (UK), said: “This is great news for the future of the plant and our workforce, and highlights our ability to win new business within the UK automotive market at a time when Jaguar Land Rover and indeed the UK automotive sector is experiencing strong growth driven by world-leading design and engineering and by manufacturing efficiency,” Mr McMichael said on Monday.

Factory closures

Montupet’s latest order is a welcome boost for the North’s struggling manufacturing sector which has been hard hit by a series of significant redundancy programmes and factory closures.

Last week Caterpillar confirmed that 250 jobs were under threat at its plants in the North and that it may move to entirely close its Monkstown facility. Meanwhile Bombardier, one of the North's largest employers, is in the process of axing up to 725 jobs locally.

Montupet, which last year celebrated 25 years of production at its Dunmurry plant, formerly home to the DeLorean car company, also produces cylinder heads for General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Peugeot/Citroen.

It will supply the new cylinder head to the Jaguar Land Rover engine plant in Wolverhampton, England.