2:39 pm, April 19, 2023
Jaguar Land Rover today announced that its Halewood plant is to become an all-electric production factory as part of an ambitious £15bn five-year plan.
The manufacturer also stated that its next-generation medium-size SUV architecture, electrified modular architecture (EMA), will be pure-electric.
Giving an update at the luxury car manufacturer’s centre in Gaydon, chief executive Adrian Mardell said it was speeding up its electrification path and reaffirmed the business’s commitment to its Reimagine strategy.
This would reposition the company as an electric-first, modern luxury carmaker by 2030, he said.
‘Two years ago, we launched our Reimagine strategy and since then we have made great progress, including launching two new critically acclaimed modern luxury Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, joining the Defender family, for which there is record demand.
JLR’s Halewood plant on Merseyside is to become an all-electric manufacturing facility
‘We achieved this while navigating the headwinds of the pandemic and chip shortages, and successfully ramping up production of our most profitable models to deliver profit in Q3,’ said Mardell.
‘Today I am proud to announce we are accelerating our electrification path, making one of our UK plants and our next-generation medium-size luxury SUV architecture fully electric.
‘This investment enables us to deliver to our modern luxury electric future, developing new skills, and reaffirming our commitment to be net zero carbon by 2039.’
Advance orders for the modern luxury all-electric Range Rover will be accepted from later this year, launching in 2025 and built at Halewood on Merseyside.
But although the EMA will be electric-only, JLR said it will keep the flexible modular longitudinal architecture on which the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are built, offering internal combustion engine, hybrid and battery-electric vehicle options.
JLR also announced that it will be moving to a House of Brands approach, to amplify the unique character of Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar.
Professor Gerry McGovern, JLR’s chief creative officer, said: ‘Pivotal to our Reimagine strategy is the formation of the House of Brands, which is a natural evolution, with a purpose of elevating and amplifying the uniqueness of our characterful British marques.
‘Our ultimate ambition is to build truly emotionally engaging experiences for our clients that, over time, will build long-term high-[equity for our brands and long-term sustainability for JLR.’
The first of three reimagined modern luxury electric Jaguars will be a four-door GT built in Solihull and named JEA.
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Power output will be more than with any previous Jaguar, with a range up to 700km (430 miles), and pricing expected to be from £100,000.
More details will be released later this year, before the GT Jaguar goes on sale in selected markets in 2024, for client deliveries in 2025.
JLR also revealed its Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, which currently produces Ingenium internal combustion engines for its vehicles, will have an electric future producing electric drive units and battery packs for JLR’s next-generation vehicles.
The Solihull plant, pictured here, is to build the first of three reimagined modern luxury electric Jaguars – a four-door GT
It’ll be renamed the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre to reflect the move.
And in positive news for the future of the historic Castle Bromwich site, JLR confirmed that its stamping facilities that prepare pressed body metalwork for its vehicles will be expanded to play a key role in the company’s electric future.
The plant will provide body work for the next generation of electric vehicles, and JLR said it was continuing to explore options for other parts of the Castle Bromwich site.
