A new manufacturing plant has been installed in Solihull, UK, to manufacture the new Range Rover sports utility vehicle. An important aspect of the £80 million investment at the site is a body‐in‐white assembly shop containing 123 robots, many of which are employed in multi‐tasking roles.

Two models of the Vauxhall Vectra passenger car are now manufactured at Ellesmere Port, UK where there is a completely new bodyshop with over 600 Fanuc robots. John Mortimer reports.

The automotive industry has been the principal driver in the development of robotics; however, as car design becomes more sophisticated, demands on robot makers will continue undiminished.

Purpose – Describes how Jaguar Cars in the UK is using robots to manufacture aluminium car bodies for its new XK sports car that is being built in the company's plant in Castle Bromwich, UK. Design/methodology/approach – Describes the major production line techniques that are used in the...

A new manufacturing plant has been installed in Oxford, UK, to manufacture the new BMW Mini car. An important aspect of the £230 million investment at the site is the fully automated body‐in‐white assembly shop containing 230 robots.