Land Rover has revealed it is to move production of its Discovery model from Solihull to Slovakia.

The luxury car maker, which has plants across Birmingham and the West Midlands, will also reconfigure the Lode Lane plant to make it a centre of electric vehicle production.

News of the huge production overhaul was revealed by a source within or close to the company and announced by Bloomberg this afternoon.

Since then, Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed to BirminghamLive that the move will go ahead.

The car maker also said that the jobs of some agency staff would go as a result of the plans and comes just a few weeks after it announced a cull of 1,000 agency staff in Solihull.

However, JLR added that changes planned demonstrated its long-term commitment to the UK.

Pproduction of the Land Rover Discovery will switch from Solihull to Slovakia
Pproduction of the Land Rover Discovery will switch from Solihull to Slovakia

The Bloomberg report said the Solihull Factory, which has been home to Land Rover production for 70 years, would be retooled to accommodate a new generation of electric cars.

The report quotes an internal Land Rover email which details its plans but also says it is demonstrating its commitment to the UK post-Brexit.

The move would see the production of electric, petrol and diesel cars in Solihull.

As well as the Discovery model, it currently produces the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar and Jaguar F-Pace models.

The Bloomberg report also mentions investment planned by Jaguar Land Rover at its factory in Halewood, Merseyside.

It currently produces the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport models and Jaguar Land Rover has revealed it will invest in the plant to produce the all new Evoque, due to be unveiled next year.

The Jaguar F-Pace and Land Rover Discovery
The Jaguar F-Pace and Land Rover Discovery

In the wake of the Bloomberg report, a Jaguar Land Rover spokesman said: "This significant investment and technology upgrade in Solihull in order to accommodate our next-generation of flagship Land Rover models, and the refit of our Halewood plant for the next Evoque, is proof that we remain committed both to the UK and to transformation and growth.

"The decision to move the Land Rover Discovery to Slovakia and the potential losses of some agency employed staff in the UK is a tough one but forms part of our long-term manufacturing strategy as we transform our business globally."

It is believed Discovery production will be moved from the beginning of 2019.

Jaguar Land Rover has said all new models it launches will have an electric version from 2020.

Jaguar Land Rover sales have slowed due to a drop in demand for diesel vehicles and the company has also said uncertainty over Brexit has posed problems.

However, sales increased in May due to healthy sales of newer models like the Jaguar E-Pace and Range Rover Velar.