Jaguar Land Rover is reported to be close to announcing a £267 million investment in a new manufacturing facility in Brazil.
Rio de Janeiro state has been earmarked for the new factory, according to news agency Reuters.
It said three government sources had revealed the move and that production at the factory, to be built in the city of Itatiaia, could begin as early as 2015.
It is believed an official announcement will be made by JLR on December 3.
Although the Brazilian government sources were not named, Reuters reported Itatiaia’s mayor Luiz Carlos Ferreira Bastos as saying: “Everything is very advanced with only minor details to be worked out.”
It is believed the new factory could employ between 500 and 700 people.
In October this year JLR’s chief executive Ralf Speth revealed the company’s plans for Brazil were close to fruition.
Mr Speth confirmed plans for a Brazilian plant and pledged a deal would be done before Christmas.
The company, which has created more than 6,000 jobs in the West Midlands in recent years following its rapid growth, already has plans to open assembly facilities in China, India and Saudi Arabia.
The investment in Brazil is part of a wider strategy to diversify the Indian-owned car maker’s sales and production from its traditional markets in the US and Europe to the fast growing emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
