WITH fears over climate change and rising fuel costs, car manufacturers currently find themselves between a rock and a hard place.

Given that the almost forgotten golden era of carefree motoring is now long in the past, they will have to find new and imaginative ways of holding on to their market share and appealing to new customers.

All this is amply demonstrated by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which employs more than 2,000 people at its Halewood plant.

On the one hand, Land Rover’s worldwide sales will be flat this year, as the global economic slowdown and mounting environmental concerns hit its key markets.

But, on the other, it is planning to counter falling sales with a £700m investment in new green research and development facilities.

The move, which could create 600 new jobs in the UK, is good news, as it is a sign of the confidence that JLR’s new Indian owners, Tata Motors, has in the company, after it was purchased from Ford in a £1.17bn deal.

Land Rover has also confirmed that the Merseyside plant will build its first-ever vehicle with new "stop-start" fuel saving technology.

The new Freelander 2 model will be built at Halewood from later this year, to go on sale in the showrooms next year, with Land Rover saying that the vehicle will save drivers at least 8% on fuel with an equivalent reduction in carbon emissions.

And, while the majority of the new jobs in new green research and development facilities are likely to be at the company’s West Midlands plants, some new jobs are expected to be created at Halewood.

What both announcements prove is that, in challenging circumstances, JLR continues to have confidence in the future, which can only be good news for the local workforce.