Jaguar Land Rover opens new plant in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Jaguar Land Rover is opening a new, $1.6 billion plant in Slovakia, the luxury car maker's first in continental Europe.

The U.K.-based company, owned by India's Tata Motors, built the plant near Nitra, about 100 kilometers (65 miles) east of Bratislava, to initially produce 150,000 cars a year. The Slovak government is giving the carmaker investment subsidies of up to 130 million euros ($148 million).

Slovakia is a regional car-making powerhouse. Germany's Volkswagen, France's PSA Peugeot Citroen and South Korea's Kia Motors Corp. all have a major plant in this Central European country of 5.4 million people.

The company said it will shift all production of its Discovery model from Birmingham, England, to Slovakia amid falling diesel sales, vehicle taxes and uncertainty about Britain's departure from the European Union.