Jaguar Land Rover Supercharged V8 Production To Continue In-House

Ford's Bridgend has increased the production of the engine to serves as a buffer.

By: Jacob Oliva

Aug 30, 2020 at 7:28am ET

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Jaguar and Land Rover's AJ supercharged V8 gasoline engine is ubiquitous in both of these brands' lineups. Usually found in top-spec cars like the Jaguar F-Type SVR (and now in the F-Type R), the 5.0-liter also powers other JLR cars regardless of the size and type, such as the Land Rover Defender Works. Needless to say, the AJ V8 is an important power plant for these two British marques.

But the future of the AJ V8 became uncertain when Ford announced a shutdown of the Bridgend plant last summer. Of note, this manufacturing plant produces the JLR engine, but that's about to change next month.

Gallery: 2021 Jaguar F-Type

In a report by Autocar, JLR has reportedly confirmed that it will move the production of the AJ V8 engine into the JLR Engine Manufacturing Center in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. The move will include the equipment and possibly the workforce, which will happen in a 'lift and shift' operation.

"Manufacture of the JLR-designed V8 petrol engines previously made at Bridgend will move to the JLR Engine Manufacturing Centre, with further detail to be confirmed at a later date," said JLR, according to the published report by Autocar.

For now, the Bridgend plant is reportedly producing the AJ V8 engine at a faster rate to serve as a buffer while the move to Wolverhampton takes place next month. Assembly of Ford Sigma and Dragon engines, on the other hand, has been wound down to make way for the boost.

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Autocar also reported that the AJ V8 engine will soldier on for the next three to five years. JLR will then adopt BMW's V8 moving forward as part of the new deal.

With that in mind, will the upcoming Defender V8 be powered by a supercharged AJ or a BMW? Your guess is just as good as ours.

Source: Autocar