Currently reading: Car firm buys Browns Lane site
CPP Global Holdings has purchased the Browns Lane site in Coventry where Jaguars were once built

British automotive group CPP Global Holdings is to take car manufacturing back to the famous Browns Lane site in Coventry.

CPP, which owns the Bowler off-road company and is negotiating to acquire Spyker Cars, is in the process of buying a portion of the site.

The original Browns Lane site was more than 100 acres in size and was used for Jaguar production from the early 1950s until 2005. Two years later most of the location was sold off to global property group Goodman. In 2009, regional development agency Advantage West Midlands (AWM) purchased 23 acres of the site from Goodman, and it is this area that CPP is purchasing.

CPP – which is owned by Vladimir Antonov and Brendan O’Toole – has set out a five-year plan to consolidate its five existing facilities, which are spread out across Coventry, to Browns Lane. The group currently employs more than 250 specialist technicians and craftsmen.

CPP currently delivers services including vehicle component manufacturing, body-in-white engineering, prototype vehicle production, and low-volume vehicle assembly.

Planning applications will be submitted before the end of 2011, with the multi-million pound redevelopment project anticipated to start in the second quarter of 2012.

Brendan O’Toole, founder and co-owner of CPP explains: “This is a decisive moment in CPP’s strategy to cement Coventry’s reputation as a world-class centre of automotive excellence. Bringing together the group’s various businesses and facilities within a single, purpose-built location is possibly the most exciting part of the entire plan.”

Earlier this year PSA Peugeot Citroën revealed a plan to build a new parts warehouse at Browns Lane in 2012.

In other CPP news, the group has reiterated its desire to buy luxury supercar maker Spyker Cars. In February CPP signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire the Dutch brand from Swedish Automobile NV.

The deal has been delayed as Swedish Automobile NV completed its refinancing plans, and the memorandum of understanding has now lapsed, but CPP is still keen to press ahead with the acquisition.

 

 

 

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