Jaguar Land Rover is creating 1,100 new jobs at its Castle Bromwich plant in the West Midlands, taking its hiring spree to 8,000 in two years.

Having considered closing a plant at the height of the credit crunch, Indian-owned JLR has become one of the UK's manufacturing success stories. The latest employment boost is linked to production of new Jaguar models including the XF Sportbrake.

JLR's HR director, Des Thurlby, said: "We provide high-quality training and development for all of our employees so this latest announcement for 1,100 jobs is great news for the West Midlands and the UK supply chain."

The business secretary, Vince Cable, welcomed the announcement, which comes on the same day as GDP figures that are expected to show a third successive quarter of negative growth. "This expansion is a clear demonstration of Jaguar Land Rover's continuing commitment and investment in the UK," Cable said.

The move will boost JLR's total UK employment to nearly 24,000. Last year, profits at JLR rose by £352m to £1.5bn as demand from China, Russia and the US offset weaker growth in the UK. Four-fifths of Castle Bromwich's output is exported, in line with the rest of the UK car industry.

JLR sold 314,433 cars last year, up 29% on the year before, with the Range Rover Sport its biggest selling product. The UK remains JLR's biggest market but was the slowest growing of its top five territories last year, with sales rising 3% compared with 76% in China.