John Speakman, managing director, WWL UK, said: “This new contract is very significant for us. It further extends our relationship with two of the world’s most prestigious vehicle brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, during what has been a tough economic climate for both companies. 

 

“WWL has been working closely with both Jaguar and Land Rover since the 1980s. Our new long-term contract with JLR reinforces our joint work on quality and product improvements on logistics services.

 

“We expect to see a growing co-operation between our two companies on matters such as developing leaner supply chain solutions and new environmental initiatives,” he added.

 

The contract will see WWL shipping upwards of 45,000 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles in 2010 from Southampton to the following ports: Baltimore, Brunswick, Port Hueneme in the United States; Halifax in Canada and Fremantle, Melbourne and Port Kembla in Australia; and Auckland in New Zealand.

 

The company will also be providing terminal services for receiving all Jaguar and Land Rover models in Southampton, one of WWL’s key hub ports in Europe.

 

Additionally, the company will be using space it has charted on ACL vessels to ship Land Rover Freelander models from Liverpool, close to JLR’s Halewood manufacturing plant, to Baltimore in the United States. 

 

Pre-delivery and inspection (PDI) work will also be undertaken by WWL at its vehicle processing centres in Brunswick and Port Hueneme for Jaguar and Land Rover models destined for the East and West Coasts of the United States. 

 

In keeping with the environmental polices of JLR and WWL, both companies are striving to minimise their logistics footprint.

 

As a consequence Jaguar XK, XF and new XJ models are delivered by rail to WWL’s Southampton hub from the Castle Bromwich plant. Likewise the Freelander model is also being transported by rail from JLR’s Halewood plant for export through Southampton.