JLR invests in sustainable paint facilities

JLR is investing £65 million in its global paint facilities to improve sustainability and expand capacity.

Paint shops in Castle Bromwich, UK and Nitra, Slovakia will be sustainably reimagined as part of ongoing efforts to reduce energy and water usage at its global manufacturing facilities and meet its net zero ambitions.

The company has seen demand for personalised colour options, where clients can choose from hundreds of Bespoke Paint and elevated palette options across its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, more than double since FY22. JLR has also seen demand for its most exclusive Range Rover SV models double in this financial year.

This investment will more than double JLR's capacity for Bespoke Paint and luxury elevated palette, supporting more than 17,000 additional client orders per year.

Andrea Debbane, JLR's chief sustainability officer, said: “JLR is seeing a significant increase in clients wanting to personalise their vehicles, so we are preparing to expand our facilities and offer thousands more paint options across our brands, but doing so in the most sustainable and efficient way possible.

"Paint shops are very energy intensive, accounting for around 80% of our operational emissions, so they represent our biggest opportunity. Our long history means we have facilities with different challenges, some are newer, some much older so we need to optimise where we can, whilst at the same time investing for the long-term so we can get where we need to be in ten, fifteen, twenty years' time to reach our net zero goal.”

The new paint booths use the latest most energy efficient technology and filtration techniques to cut energy and water use, and also utilise fully automated spray robots which reduce paint waste by 30% versus hand painting methods, decreasing environmental impact as well as producing a higher quality finish.