Land Rover is to create 150 more jobs at its Solihull plant to cope with the increase in demand for the Freelander, particularly in the US where sales got underway at the beginning of this year. Volume sales have also increased three-fold in Japan since the Freelander was launched last year.

The production volume will increase at the beginning of September with production rising from 1,750 to 1,950 a week.

Land Rover's chairman and chief executive officer Bob Dover said: "International expansion is the key to Land Rover's expected growth. Introducing the Freelander in North America is an important step in our expansion plans. The USA is the world's biggest 4x4 market and we are hoping to greatly increase Land Rover's presence there."

The workforce increase will bring the total number employed at Solihull to 8,467.