Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will invest 15 billion pounds (about Rs 1,23,200 crore) over the next five years to develop electric vehicles (EVs) and on Wednesday pledged to launch a new electric Jaguar in 2025 as it seeks to catch up with rivals.
Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India’s Tata Motors, said in early 2021 that Jaguar will become fully electric starting in 2025, but failed to confirm on Wednesday when production of its fossil-fuel models would end.
The carmaker has previously said it will invest 2.5 billion pounds (approximately 205 billion rupees) in electrification every year.
Pressure is increasing on automakers to electrify quickly, especially in China, where competition is intensifying and pressure to cut prices is mounting.
German premium rivals Mercedes and BMW have launched a number of electric models – BMW alone has pledged to launch 11 new electric models in China by the end of this year.
Jaguar Land Rover launched the well-received electric I-Pace in 2018 but has not launched any other zero-emission models since then.
The British carmaker said its Holwood plant in northwest England will become an all-electric manufacturing facility.
Jaguar Land Rover also plans to launch a new all-electric Range Rover SUV in 2025, with orders for the vehicle opening later this year.
The new Jaguar will be built at the carmaker’s Solihull plant in central England and will be the first of three new electric models.
Jaguar Land Rover reported quarterly profit in January but has been hit harder than other major automakers by the pandemic and a shortage of semiconductor chips – as larger rivals have more influence over suppliers.
Jaguar Land Rover sold 376,381 vehicles in its 2022 fiscal year, which ended on March 31 last year, 39% lower than in fiscal 2018, the last year the company reported a full-year profit.
Jaguar Land Rover also said it aims to achieve double-digit earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) by 2026. Its EBIT margin, a key measure of profitability, was 3.7% last quarter.
Sources told Reuters that Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata is also considering building an electric vehicle battery factory in Spain or the United Kingdom that would supply Jaguar Land Rover.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
